Dior Flagship Showcases Sculptures of Claude and Fran?ois-Xavier Lalanne

ANIMAL CROSSING: Not content with boasting a restaurant, exhibition space and private apartment, Dior’s historic flagship on Avenue Montaigne in Paris has teamed up with auction house Sotheby’s to host a preview of an upcoming auction of works by Claude and Fran?ois-Xavier Lalanne.

More than 20 sculptures from the collection of their daughter, Dorothée Lalanne, are on show at the store until Oct. 9 to coincide with Paris Fashion Week. Diners at the ground-floor pastry café will find some of the duo’s whimsical sheep sculptures dotted across the indoor garden, while a silvery shark overlooks the entrance rotunda of the store.

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Founder Christian Dior, who began his career as an art gallerist, met the duo known as Les Lalanne in 1957, and went on to commission pieces from them for the boutique. Claude Lalanne subsequently designed a circular bench for architect Peter Marino to be used in Dior stores, and created the jewelry for womenswear designer Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first collection for the house in 2017.

In 2021, Dior sponsored a large-scale exhibition of the work of the sculptors in the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles.

“It’s the first time that we organized an exhibition in situ in a luxury brand’s premises,” said Sophie Dufresne, head of press and communications at Sotheby’s Paris, which will auction off the full collection on Nov. 3.

The married couple had close ties to the fashion world, being granted commissions from the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, Hubert de Givenchy and Karl Lagerfeld. Marc Jacobs, John Galliano, Reed Krakoff and Fran?ois Pinault have collected works by the Lalannes, as well.

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