Christian Lacroix and Théâtre 1996
On July 26, 1987, Arles, Marseille and the whole of Provence triumphed on the international Haute Couture scene, with a standing ovation for the birth of a great couturier: his name was Christian Lacroix.
I'm lucky enough to attend his first Haute Couture show and get an appointment. There's no doubt in my mind about the Mediterranean, whose cultural roots he captures so wonderfully. Christian Lacroix is to support the creation of the Musée de la Mode and join Azzedine Alaïa, Yves Saint Laurent... Curiosity, incredulity or simply the desire to help me in this challenge, Christian Lacroix and Jean Jacques Picart, who are partners, respond positively. From then on, they would bring to Marseille the same attachment they had for Arles.
I've often called on this formidable and atypical pair to share their experience with high-school pupils, students and young designers. Each of them reminded us that Jean-Jacques Picart was destined to run a press office, while Christian, with a degree in art history from Montpellier and a diploma from the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, was destined to become a museum curator.
Their destinies came together to create a fashion house, of which the Musée de la Mode conserves some beautiful pieces.
In 1996, weith Olivier Saillard, curator of the Musée de la Mode, to illustrate the donation made to the Institut Mode Méditerranée by the Théâtre du Gymnase, of Christian Lacroix's costumes created for the Goethe Wilhelm Meister....
The preparatory designs for this opera, like the costumes, reflect his knowledge of Haute Couture techniques and artisanal skills. His attentiveness to the artists is unwavering.
"You have torespect the personality of the person who's going to sing [...] It's become practically impossible for me to start designing a single model until I know who's going to sing." After Marseilles, the Lacroix and Theatre exhibition inaugurates the Espace Culture at Le Bon Marché, then moves on to Berlin. Christian Lacroix continues to sign costumes for the greatest works choreographic, lyrical and theatrical works.
