Iconic Christian Dior Boutique 30 Montaigne-Reopend

Christian Dior Boutique 30 Montaigne, Paris © Adrien Dirand 

Emerging from the shadow of a two-and-a-half year renovation, the iconic 30 Montaigne boutique reopened this past Sunday to reveal a ravishing new identity. It not only unites the multitude of collections together in a vastly enlarged and art-filled boutique that also contains a restaurant, café and three gardens, but also represents a revitalized expression of the Maison’s heritage and savoir-faire.

This latter is highlighted by the return of the haute couture ateliers along with the new arrival of the haute joaillerie ateliers. Totaling 2000m2, La Galerie Dior is an unparalleled addition, a permanent exhibition space filled with thousands of pieces, including some 166 couture creations in 13 thematic spaces, and a recreation of Monsieur Dior’s office.

Boutique

On the ground floor, women’s creations designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri – including ready-to-wear, accessories, shoes, bags and small leather goods – are displayed alongside men’s pieces designed by Kim Jones.

On the 1st floor, exceptional pieces in exotic leathers and evening wear designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri can be found nearby the Fine Jewelry collections, Dior Maison and men’s Demi Mesure.

La Gallerie Dior

Featuring a unique scenographic narrative, La Galerie Dior is a testament to the visionary audacity of Christian Dior and his six successors: Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri.

Restaurant & La Pâtisserie Dior

As an ultimate treat, La Pâtisserie Dior – overlooking the sumptuous rose garden – provides any visit to 30 Montaigne with a requisite interlude over a sweet creation. Subtly reinterpreted by Jean Imbert, the most emblematic French cakes frequent original creations that reinvent Dior symbols in edible form.

A barista – selecting rare coffees for you – will be present to prolong these delicious moments, from the beauty of the gesture to the art of savoring. From breakfast to teatime, surrender to delicious pleasure and culinary excellence in an unparalleled setting.

The Restaurant, affectionately named Monsieur Dior, embodies the French art of living, driven by Jean Imbert’s creativity, both refined and generous, combining simplicity with elegance. The French chef, accompanied by his faithful collaborator Antony Clémot, drew from the heritage and history of the Maison to develop each menu. The cuisine is enhanced by exclusive Dior Maison collections dedicated to the arts of the table, enhancing classic dishes from the founding couturier’s favorite recipes.

An impressive Claudia Wieser mirror composed of geometric panels dialogues with Guy Limone’s pictorial work – especially created for 30 Montaigne – the result of a colossal research project: an original installation made from thousands of images – in a palette of red, black and white hues – drawn from Dior’s archives and the artist’s personal visual treasure trove. As a delicate hommage, an oil on canvas entitled Christian Dior à Table, by René Bouché is also featured in Le Restaurant.

Haute Couture Salons

The haute couture salons, precious testimonies of Dior’s history, have seen the collections of Christian Dior and premiered, right up to Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Dior fall-winter 2019-2020 haute couture line. Confidential, located near the ateliers and visible from the boutique through a large bay window, they are now regaining their former prestige, guarding the secrets of haute couture.

Haute couture represents a treasure trove of conscientious craftsmanship, a triumph of the sleight of hand, culminating in a kind of masterpiece.

Enhanced by wooden moldings and a parquet floor featuring a compass rose (a Dior classic) designed by architect Peter Marino, this timeless, refined setting hosts a selection of furniture and works of art, such as an abstract floral sculpture commissioned especially from Johan Creten or tables designed by Ado Chale or Claude Lalanne.

The Garden

“Thankfully, there are flowers”, said Monsieur Dior, who was – as well as a gallerist, an architecture aficionado, and grand couturier – an avid gardener. It was in Granville, in the rose garden of his family’s home overlooking the sea, that young Christian planted the seeds of his fascination with this most artful intersection of nature and culture. Growing into a fashion designer, Monsieur Dior found a bounty of inspiration in the gardens, allowing the dazzling silhouette of a femme-fleur to blossom from the very first collection, leaving her bewitching sillage in her wake.

On the ground floor, majestic tropical trees reach up to the windows of Le Restaurant Monsieur Dior, while perennial flowers bloom in abundance. One floor above, beneath a glass roof, there is a winter garden, where exotic plants seem to transcend borders. As for the terrace, it is adorned with a striking steel sculpture by John Chamberlain. On the third level, a veritable garden in the heart of the capital boasts apple trees and roses, Christian Dior’s favorite flowers, adding irresistible touches of elation.

The different spaces of 30 Montaigne:
– Monsieur Dior restaurant at 30 Avenue Montaigne
– La Galerie at 11 Rue Francois 1er
– Children’s fashion at 26 Avenue Montaigne

The boutique offers valet parking service. Come into the beautiful world of Christian Dior.

In the turquoise blue… of Venice

In the turquoise blue… of Venice, Johan Creten’s ‘La Laguna’ illustrates the passage of time. Submerged in translucent wax, a bronze Venus reveals herself as the candle burns… as the hours pass. Aesthetes and explorers of all stripes can purchase ‘La Laguna’, a limited-edition work of art created for Diptyque’s Le Grand Tour to mark the Maison’s 60th birthday.

Curious, open, sensitive to the beauty and cultures of the whole world: such were Desmond Knox-Leet, Yves Coueslant and Christiane Montadre, the three amateur aesthetes at the origin of diptych. Perpetuating the philosophy of the founding trio, diptych’s view of the world has continued to be enriched by multiple collaborations. In 2021, for its sixty years, the House demonstrates this by inviting five internationally renowned artists to imagine an original creation as part of the Grand Tour, the penultimate part of this extraordinary year. A journey in 5 stopovers, 5 artists and 5 exclusive editions to discover from September 2021 in an exhibition in Paris and pop-ups around the world. Art and diptych are definitely linked.

From different cultures, disciplines and sensibilities, the artists on the Grand Tour map share a common interest in the other and what surrounds them. Their techniques and practices are plural, just like the destinations they have been invited to sublimate. How do they perceive them? And according to what contours? The answer in five artistic proposals to perfumes from elsewhere.

One of the artist is one of the greatest contemporary sculptors, a pioneer in his innovative use of ceramics and the first artist of Belgian origin to have had the honors of the Louvre Museum, in 2005: Johan Creten. The choice to entrust him with Venice, a city appreciated and often visited by the founders of diptych, was obvious. Also famous for his large allegorical bronzes, the artist based in Paris is a lover of nature, the art of perfume and Venetian bronzes, which he collects with passion. “Venice is the city of all fantasies, a mirage, a ghost, a mermaid, a city of brutal and vivid beauty, decadent and delusional. It is a territory of crossroads, multiple artistic influences but also the reality of a dense and complex economic world, of dynamism and decline”.

For diptych, he imagined a bronze sculpture, La Laguna, immersed in a candle 4 wicks of 1.5 kg in blue tinted glass, whose wax of a translucent green blue, reminiscent of the menacing Venetian waters of the acqua alta recently become clear, reveals the female icon. By burning, the candle with the perfume worked by Cécile Matton evoking the freshness of a vegetable garden with accentuated marine notes, releases the sculpture.

To the initial idea of the Venice vegetable garden, the artist wanted to add “the smell of the sea, the note of iodine, a light, indefinable, fresh smell like the wind that floats above the water when you pass ‘Torcello’ in ‘vaporetto’ and smell the kitchen and gardens. Seeming gradually to emerge from the waters, La Laguna symbolizes for the artist ‘the passage of time, the fragility of this ecosystem, the mystery’. A candle ‘memento mori par excellence’ that leaves, once used, the vivid trace of its passage via a limited edition printed in 24 copies to keep for a long time, a small object with an independent ‘life’, which makes you dream and calls out”.

Diptique’s La Laguna is available in 24 numbered editions at their website. Come into the beautiful world of Diptyque.