The now-shuttered La Belle Jardinière department store, a stone’s throw from Paris’ Pont Neuf, was the first of its kind – combining a workshop and sales floor, it offered the historical equivalent of contemporary ‘ready-to-wear’ from its founding in 1824 (prior to that point, clothing was made bespoke to its wearer or purchased second-hand). 

As of this month, that space – which closed its doors as a department store in 1974 – contains an array of unique fashion objects of a different kind, each drawn from the extensive archives of Louis Vuitton and the spoils of the house’s extensive history of collaboration. A record box, in the house’s recognisable monogram, created by Helmut Lang in 1996 (famously, Grandmaster Flash appeared in the accompanying campaign); a portrait of the house’s eponymous founder by American artist Alex Katz; the eerily prescient masked nurse outfits from Marc Jacobs’ S/S 2008 Louis Vuitton show, part of a collaboration with Richard Prince.

Louis Vuitton’s ‘LV Dream’ exhibition and café in Paris

These pieces are part of a new exhibition titled ‘LV Dream’, an immersive exploration of Louis Vuitton’s various collaborations with internationally renowned artists, designers and cultural luminaries (the resulting objects span clothing, accessories, homeware, artworks and more). Those names are numerous and traverse continents and…