Not the news from the Champs-Elysées: Paris security forces control access at the inauguration of a building monumentally wrapped in keeping with Christian Dior’s vision of 1955.
Not to be outdone by the Christo-wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe, Bernard Arnault, chairman of Dior and LVMH, has had a monumental building on the Champs-Elysées wrapped following “Christian Dior’s original drawings of 1955 that were recently discovered in the Dior archives,” according to the Dior company’s press release. The release emphasizes that no public funds were used to wrap the building and that Dior will recoup the expense by selling products presented on the somewhat recyclable wrap. Nevertheless, public security forces were called in to control crowds dressed in the “new look” who attended the inauguration of the Dior wrap.
Only those showing a Louis Vuitton bag or the credit card receipt for an equivalently priced bag were admitted inside. Scanners denied entrance to numerous holders of knock-off bags. (Authentic LV bags were available at a stand specially installed next door for foreign visitors.) Several anti-baggers demanding a free memorabilia Dior swatch were arrested.
In inaugurating the Dior wrap, Mayor (and presidential candidate) Anne Hidago said, “Arnault overwhelms us, prods us, makes us talk, so whatever he wants to do is fine by my administration.” She would neither confirm nor deny that François Pinault, another French billionaire, has recently applied for permission to wrap a building on Boulevard Haussmann. But she did say: “My friend François Pinault just finished unwrapping the Bourse de Commerce gift that Parisians bought for him for 86 million euros, so that will likely keep him happy until Christmas.”
Meanwhile, at the top of the Champs-Elysées, the Christo-wrapped Arc de Triomphe continues to dazzle.
© 2021, Gary Lee Kraut