Pierre Cardin turns Communist Party HQ blue for Paris Fashion Week

PARIS (Reuters): Paris Fashion Week kicked off on Monday with a Pierre Cardin show in the headquarters of France’s Communist Party, which was bathed in blue light to conjure up the colour of the ocean.

It was the French label’s second show at Paris Fashion Week since founder Pierre Cardin died in 2020, building on its space-age catwalk in March after a gap of more than two decades.

Rodrigo Basilicati Cardin, the late designer’s great-nephew, told reporters the new collection was based on the colour blue, inspired by the ocean and dedicated to the protection of the planet.

Models showcased dresses in indigo blue, on a deep blue catwalk under the cavernous reinforced concrete dome of the futuristic building designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.

Early last year, French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel presented his election programme at the Espace Niemeyer, but the building is occasionally rented out for fashion shows, music videos or other events.

Fashion Week, which runs until Oct. 3, will feature more than 100 designers, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermes, dozens of new international designers, as well as French fashion house Balmain whose show will go ahead despite the theft of part of its collection.

Thieves seized the vehicle carrying some 50 items between a Paris airport and the label’s headquarters in the French capital. Balmain said it was redoing the missing pieces and would go ahead presenting its 2024 spring-summer collection.

Among the houses showing later in the week are Dior and Saint Laurent scheduled for Tuesday; Courreges and Dries Van Noten on Wednesday; Lanvin and Givenchy on Thursday.