Fashion House: Seven architectural fashion-show locations
With February’s fashion calendar in full swing, we’ve been inspired to select our favourite architectural fashion-show locations. From retro-futurist oddities to Modernist icons, these seven buildings stole the show.
Palais Bulles, Théoule-sur-Mer, France
Raf Simons chose this outré abode on a Théoule-sur-Mer cliff near Cannes for his 2016 ‘Resort’ collection. ‘I was very astonished when I saw it for the first time, because it sits in such a weird way, away from any old architecture’ said Simons, whose modern, playful silhouettes found a complementary backdrop in Hungarian architect Antti Lovag’s fun, bubble-like design. The structure was completed in 1989 and was later fashion designer Pierre Cardin’s holiday home.
Hope Residence, Palm Springs, USA
Louis Vuitton golden boy Nicolas Ghesquière took over the late American comedian Bob Hope’s colossal house in Palm Springs for the brand’s 2016 ‘Cruise’ collection. Designed by Googie Style pioneer John Lautner, the house features swooping walls and floor-to-ceiling glazing to futuristic effect, while also framing views of the mountains and desert. Outside, the landscaped gardens, pool and alfresco fireplace are the epitome of mid-century Cali cool.
Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
After their Palm Springs show, the location for Louis Vuitton’s 2017 ‘Resort’ presentation demonstrated a proclivity for retro-futurism, being set against Oscar Niemeyer’s 1996 Niterói Contemporary Art Museum. The structure resembles something of a UFO that has landed on a rocky crag overlooking Guanabara Bay, and features a sinuous pink runway, which formed the catwalk for a collection defined by bold colours and texture play.
Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, USA
Hedi Slimane’s penultimate show at Saint Laurent channelled 1970s Hollywood and rock-and-roll influences into a show that many read as a love-letter to Slimane’s adopted home of Los Angeles. The location was the iconic Hollywood Palladium, which was finished in 1940 in the Moderne style according to a design by Gordon B. Kaufmann, who included a few Art Deco flourishes too. The rich heritage of the cultural venue set the tone for the rebellious collection, which was intended to mark the 50th anniversary of the brand’s ‘Rive Gauche’ diffusion line, conceived by Yves himself as a celebration of youth culture.
Royal College of Physicians, London, UK
This Modernist edifice, somewhat incongruously placed on a corner of Regent’s Park, is the work of Denys Lasdun, whose brief was to create a contemporary, accessible headquarters for the Royal College of Physicians. He came up with one of the most celebrated buildings of its style in London, with a design incorporating the Modernist staples like glass, marble and teak, and a more classic-feeling mosaiced staircase with gold handrail. It was a fitting location for Paul Smith’s ‘A/W’ 2016 collection, which fused vintage influences with modern sensibilities to cut quite a dash.
Four Seasons Park, New York City, USA
For a show remembered as a ‘disaster’ or ‘hellscape’ depending on who you ask, the rapper-turned-designer Kanye West made fashion’s glitterati travel on a bus to queue for an hour on a sweltering New York summer day to present Yeezy ‘Season 4’. The backdrop was the Louis Khan-designed Four Freedoms Park. With a simple triangular form that protrudes into the East River from Roosevelt Island and made from a white granite, the site is a peaceful, solemn place when not overrun by models fainting from heatstroke.
Klein House, Scottish Borders, UK
Bernat Klein, an influential textile designer whose fabrics were used by the likes of Christian Dior, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent, commissioned this house in the Scottish Borders and it was finished in 1957 according to a design by architect Peter Womersley. The modish outcome became a sought-after location for fashion shows and the like, hosting presentations for British couturier John Cavanagh in the 1960s. Klein house was sold via The Modern House in 2017.
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