Paris Olympic Events: Yves St Laurent Museum to celebrate Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games with Special Screening of historic fashion show

As part of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 11 institutions that form the Colline des Arts (located around the Chaillot hill region of Paris) have devised a unique programme focusing on the body in movement, with workshops, seminars, shows and demonstrations scheduled for June 14 - 16 2024, running each day continuously from 11 am to 6 pm.

A rich artistic and cultural programme, free to attend, is planned throughout the weekend to celebrate the extraordinary adventure as Paris is making preparations to host the Games.

Screening of the recording of the July 1998 Yves St Laurent fashion parade at the Stade de France,
will take place June 14 - 16 2024

To mark the occasion, the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris is inviting the public to revisit the Yves Saint Laurent fashion show by screening the recording of the parade that was designed for the World Cup final on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France. 

To the revisited rhythms of Ravel's ‘Bolero’, 300 models took to the catwalk to celebrate 40 years of the couturier's creations, in a choreography orchestrated by Olivier Massart. Nine hundred people were called on to organise this fifteen-minute event, which will be watched live by 1.7 billion television viewers around the world.

For the 1998 World Cup final, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé imagined a gigantic and sublime fashion show staged at the Stade de France. To the revisited rhythms of Ravel's "Bolero", three hundred models took to the catwalk to celebrate forty years of the designer's creations, in a choreography skilfully orchestrated by Olivier Massart. Nine hundred people were called on to organise this fifteen-minute event, which will be watched live by 1.7 billion television viewers around the world.

The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris is currently hosting the exhibition "SHEER: THE DIAPHANOUS CREATIONS OF YVES SAINT LAURENT" until August 25, 2024.

The museum noted that few garments are entirely transparent, as transparency seemingly contradicts the fundamental purpose of clothing: to cover, conceal, or protect the body. 

Fascinated by this paradox and the powerful impact of diaphanous fabrics, Yves Saint Laurent began incorporating materials such as chiffon, lace, and tulle into his designs in the 1960s. Throughout his forty-year career, he frequently revisited the theme of transparency, often combining these delicate materials with embroidered or opaque fabrics. In doing so, he masterfully resolved these contradictions, empowering women to express their bodies with pride and confidence.

Yves Saint Laurent was the first fashion designer to pose nude to promote a perfume, provocatively proclaiming, "I am ready to do anything to sell my brand." Initially deemed scandalous, this image has since become a symbol of Yves Saint Laurent's groundbreaking work.

Images from the Yves St Laurent Museum in Paris.

Textile Trade Fair: Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris from 1 to 3 July at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles

The Paris Olympic Games, set to begin on July 26, 2024, will not affect access for visitors or exhibitors at the Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris trade shows, which will be held from July 1 to 3, 2024, at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, according to the organisers.

While the Games will start three weeks after the textile and apparel trade shows, they will coincide with a busy tourism season. Therefore, visitors to the fair are advised to plan ahead and book their accommodation and flights early to secure the best rates. Messe Frankfurt France, the organizer of Apparel Sourcing Paris, has arranged on-site concierge services to ensure a successful and enjoyable experience for all visitors.

To maximize convenience and buyers' attendance, Apparel Sourcing and Texworld Paris, along with related trade fairs Avantex and Leatherworld, are organized by Messe Frankfurt France. These events are held at the same location, on the same dates, and offer free entry upon presentation of professional credentials.

Over a thousand exhibitors from major sourcing countries will present their latest inspirational products sought by buyers and designers to build their collections for 2025-2026. This season's show will highlight suppliers of innovative products and solutions for high-performance and sustainable fashion.

Asia, a key player in the textile industry, will have a predominant presence at Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris.

This year, Messe Frankfurt France is supporting the National Museum of Asian Arts - Guimet in Paris, particularly the exhibition dedicated to the Tang Empire (618-907), which runs until February 2025. This cultural sponsorship aims to showcase the cultural, artistic, and textile richness of an empire that was open to the world from the Middle East to Central Asia.

For the first time, a pavilion featuring yarn producers from China, India, Pakistan, and Taiwan will be set up, co-organized with Yarn Expo, a Shanghai show in the Messe Frankfurt portfolio.

Leatherworld, the platform dedicated to leather sourcing, will feature a South African pavilion with a high-quality range of products. This area will also host a Leather Trends section curated by Italian publisher Edizioni AF, focusing on design processes and material choices used by Italian accessories and footwear manufacturers.

New features are expected in the Avantex innovations area, including exclusive partnerships with the IFA Paris fashion design school, the TCBL association, and the TUV Rheinland certification body. These collaborations will showcase cutting-edge solutions in sustainable fashion and textiles, offering opportunities for expert discussions.

Additionally, Texpertise Econogy, the sustainable economy approach developed by Messe Frankfurt, will guide visitors in their sourcing decisions. Building on its successful launch in the February show, the upcoming event will continue to promote sustainability with exciting features and provide a platform for green pioneers.

Louis Gérin and Grégory Lamaud, artistic directors of Texworld Apparel Sourcing Paris, have produced a trend book titled "IMPERFaiCTION", for the Autumn-Winter 2025-2026 season, tthe focus for this July's show, exploring the limits of humans in confronting the potential of AI, and proposes a poetic reading of their imperfections.

Based on the cross-referencing and analysis of emerging signals detected in the artistic, economic and societal fields, the two artistic directors are putting forward a "wardrobe" under four inspiring themes for fashion designers. Pattern design boards grouping the color universes around 3 "star colours", the looks and silhouettes staged for each creative universe specifically aiming at the trends for Autumn-Winter 2025-2026.

To download the IMPERFaiCTION trend book, click HERE. 

All photos taken from Texworld  Apparel Sourcing Paris - July 2023 edition