kaitlin rebesco

Cannes, 2012.

Louis Vuitton – Marc Jacobs at Les Arts Décoratifs

This week I finally made it to the Louis Vuitton - Marc Jacobs exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs. It’s a small exhibition with a big visual impact. The first floor is dedicated to Louis Vuitton and the beginnings of the company in the 19^th century, focusing on his beautiful handcrafted trunks and creation of the trademark monogram logo. A small staircase takes you to the second floor and into what feels like a time machine. A floor-to-ceiling display of videos and backlit images quickly propels you through time to the modern day Louis Vuitton under the direction of Marc Jacobs. I can only describe this half of the exhibition as “eye-candy” — an entire wall of handbags and imaginative displays of fashion including pieces created in collaboration with artists Takashi Murakami, Stephen Sprouse, Richard Prince. This exhibition reminded me a lot of the Alexander McQueen show at The Met last year, and it’s wonderful how museums are putting life into what used to be static fashion displays.

Marc Jacobs himself said of the exhibition, “To me, there’s nothing more boring than seeing a bunch of clothes that were once worn by people with interesting lives, on a bunch of still mannequins in a quiet environment. So there’ll be music, there’ll be moving images, animated mannequins; just fantastic imaginative ways of showing the things that were inspiring the parallels past and present.”

Louis Vuitton – Marc Jacobs is on view through September 16 at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris

107 Rue de Rivoli 75001

Tuesday – Sunday from 11 to 6, Thursday from 11 to 9

Photos by Kaitlin Rebesco

Helmut Newton at the Grand Palais

Now that classes are over, I finally have time to see some of the many exhibitions on display in Paris right now. Yesterday I decided to use my free afternoon to see Helmut Newton at the Grand Palais. A big influence on the development of fashion photography and someone whose work I personally find very inspiring, this was an exhibition I had been looking forward to seeing. Unfortunately, the experience wasn’t quite what I had hoped it would be. After waiting in line for nearly 40 minutes, I found myself in an exhibition space so filled with people that it was impossible to appreciate (or even really see) most of the photographs. Having said that, if you were to take all of the people out of the room, it would have been a really outstanding show. It was filled with many photographs that I had never seen before. Even some of his better-known images were printed so big (life size and in some cases even bigger) and presented in such a way that it was like seeing them for the first time. This exhibition really reinforced the idea that a good photo is meant to be printed and displayed on wall. It’s not meant to exist as an image on a screen. How the work is displayed within a space can have an enormous impact on the overall effect. And, here, the curator did a wonderful job. Everyone should see this exhibition but try to go early or late (it is open until 10pm) to avoid the crowds.

Helmut Newton is showing at the Grand Palais until June 17

Avenue Winston Churchill 75008

Open everyday except Tuesday, from 10am-10pm

Photos by Kaitlin Rebesco

Les Vitrines. Paris, 2012.

Attention to Detail. Paris Fashion Week, 2012.

Spotlight on Shoes. Paris Fashion Week, 2012.

Arriving at Guy Laroche. Paris Fashion Week, 2012.