DesignTracker

Gehry’s Paris Coup Vanity Fair

The reported $143 million Fondation Louis Vuitton, which opens to the public in October, was commissioned by Bernard Arnault, the chairman and C.E.O. of the luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton, as a contemporary-art museum and cultural center, and it is not only its architecture that is unusual. There are relatively few private museums in France, and in building this one Arnault—himself a major collector—was obviously hoping to reinforce a connection between his company and advanced art and design. But it has the potential to develop a brand even more potent than that of LVMH: that of France itself, and of Paris, where more creative energy surrounded modern art, architecture, and design in the first half of the 20th century than anywhere else. Paris long ago ceded its leadership as a creative center to New York and other cities, and not even the vast investment of the French government in such architecturally ambitious projects as the Centre Pompidou, by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano, the expanded Louvre, with its glass pyramid, by I. M. Pei, and the Cité de la Musique, by Christian de Portzamparc, has been enough to get it back.

The Fondation’s distinctive shell, known as the Verrière, consists of a dozen monumental glass sail forms, all variously angled and overlapping. Underneath is a series of irregular spaces, known as the Iceberg, containing 11 galleries for art.

For the opening of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the artistic programme will unfold in three successive stages between October 27, 2014 and July 2015, each stage will include a temporary exhibition, a partial presentation of the collection and a series of events. Details see website.

Why Paris’s Newest Art Museum — the Fondation Louis Vuitton — Is Like None You’ve Ever Seen Vogue

Vogue Meets Ghesquière Vogue UK

Ghesquière is nothing if not visionary but his vision for Vuitton is pragmatic, and rooted in an understanding of the house as the totemic business it is, rather than the whimsy of an individual designer. “You know the Vuitton woman is someone who is interested in fashion but she’s not someone who is craving the last new thing. She has a sense of excellence, of quality, of timeless pieces. So I was like… I have to combine both those two feelings. Create a strong desire for fashion, a statement, and at the same time to give a feeling that this is the beginning of a wardrobe I will build. I didn’t want to give the feeling that I will jump and do this story and then jump and do another.”

RedTracker

Stella McCartney’s Mixed Messages

Designer Stella McCartney stepped into a furor of resistance after posting this image of a model on Instigram, alongside the caption: ‘Worn well!!! X Stella.