When I was a little girl, we always made a pilgrimage to downtown Toronto to see the department store windows of Eatons and Simpsons decorated for Christmas. The creativity and fantasy of those displays are wonderful memories. When our daughter was little, we took her to Fifth Avenue in New York to see the displays at Saks and Bergdorf Goodman to continue the tradition. This Christmas in Paris, however, the windows of the Printemps department store on Boulevard Haussmann, have taken holiday magic to new heights.
Marionnettiste, or puppeteer, Jean-Claude Dehix and his team have created 74 puppets wearing reproductions of Dior designs from the Bar suit, that was dubbed the New Look by the American press, to the latest designs by Raf Simons. Not only are the marionettes gorgeous, they skate, dance, and even take off in hot air balloons. The 11-window display celebrates the most famous Parisian landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, the Tuileries Gardens, and the beautiful rooftops of Paris. Here’s a brief interview with the artist about the process of making the skating puppets and here’s the ribbon cutting ceremony with Dior representative actress Marion Cotillard and views of the windows in action.
Today’s word, une vitrine (oon veetreen), means a display window, like these beautiful ones at Printemps. How I’d love to see them for myself!
Related articles
- Christmas window displays in Paris: The good, the bad, and the hilariously absurd (expatedna.com)
- Printemps féerique pour Noël! (ildolcestilo.wordpress.com)
- Dior Noël au Printemps – Windows (internationalvisual.wordpress.com)
- BHV Paris Holiday Windows in Collaboration with Alexis Mabille (focusonstyle.com)
So beautiful, just like your blog.
Since you make all of my days brighter by reading your nice stories I take this opportunity to wish you Merry Christmas!
Thank you for all your marvelous posts!
You made my day! Thanks so much!
Reblogged this on The Yellow Project and commented:
The magic of shop windows…