Actress Gemma Chan, wearing Jason Wu, at the Grand Diner Du Louvre fundraiser in Paris. Photo: Landon Nordeman/The New York Times
There was theatre at Dior on the first day of Paris Fashion Week – and powerful glamour at Alaia.
But for real-life dressing drama, nothing compared to the fashion show that took place in front of the luminous glass pyramid of the Louvre on the opening evening of the collections, as guests arrived for the museum’s gala Grand Diner Du Louvre, which many not-so-jokingly referred to as the museum’s mini-Met Gala.
Doechii swept in, in a matching pyramid of yellow Valentino couture (the skirt was so large that later she changed into a blue strapless gown, presumably to help her navigate the party).
Lou Doillon, in an asymmetric white gown cut to her hip. Zoey Deutch, in hooded peach chiffon. Gigi Hadid, in gold sequined Jeremy Scott, her hair in marcelled waves.
And, of course, Vogue editor and Met Gala mastermind Anna Wintour was there, in rose-and-swallow-embroidered Givenchy couture by Sarah Burton, a sneak peek of what is to come when Burton makes her debut at that house later in the week.
Though Wintour was a guest, rather than the chair of the evening. And though the dress code was simply “black tie”, rather than any sort of more complicated, Met-worthy theme.
At the entrance, there was no receiving line, as there is at the Met, but there were rows of silver ballroom chairs set up around a pretend runway.
Beyond that, guests strolled through the museum’s first fashion exhibition, Louvre Couture, before entering the Cour Marly, the grand glass-ceilinged hall filled with classical sculpture, for the cocktail party and dinner.
“Does it look like the Met Gala to you?” murmured one woman to another.
The answer was a raised eyebrow.
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Indeed, the mood was more very, very fancy school reunion, if the school was Fashion University, rather than major cultural phenomenon a la Met, the most lucrative, most-watched philanthropic party of any year.
Keira Knightley, in strapless black Chanel, hugged Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in black sequins.
Naomi Campbell, in a black dress under a billowing, cardinal-worthy coral cape from Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld, compared baby pictures with Adut Akech, in sparkly ivory Valentino, whose first child is three months old.
Sidney Toledano, chief executive of the LVMH Fashion Group, clapped Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of fashion, on the shoulder (as they were seated at tables on two different levels of the Cour Marly, later Toledano texted Pavlovsky: “Why are you down there and I am up here?”).
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu of Emily In Paris compared black Balenciaga dresses with Michelle Yeoh. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the former French first lady, wearing a white 1995 Galliano gown with a large black rose, kissed Rachida Dati, the French minister of culture, on both cheeks.
As for John Galliano himself, he showed off his new lob hairstyle and raved about a recent “orgasmic detox” he had enjoyed in Mexico.
David and Victoria Beckham walked by hand-in-hand and a tux-less Dev Patel (he was wearing a grey suit instead) took his seat at a table with Jisoo of Blackpink.
“It’s not that uptight,” Duro Olowu, the Nigerian British designer, said approvingly – a reference, perhaps, to that fact that the Met Gala, with its scheduled entrances, tightly controlled access and streaming audience, can sometimes seem more like a business than a party.
So much so that Gwyneth Paltrow once announced she wasn’t going back because it was so “un-fun” (she later recanted).
That did not seem to be an issue at the Grand Diner.
Surveying the room, Campbell said, “Andre would have loved this” – a reference to Andre Leon Talley, the fabulously grandiose fashion editor who died in 2022.
“I can’t believe they’ve never done this before,” she said.
The Louvre has had an annual Grand Diner for the past few years, often largely attended by private donors, but never before has the event been overtly connected to fashion.
That changed because of Louvre Couture, which opened in January and juxtaposes 100 pieces from fashion designers historic (Dior, Saint Laurent) and new (Marine Serre, Olowu) against the backdrop of the museum’s decorative arts wing.
The exhibition allowed Laurence Des Cars, the first female president of the Louvre, to reimagine the fundraiser as a celebration of the fashion industry with an eye toward tapping the deep pockets of the sector, which loves nothing so much as being considered in the same breath as the art world and which has been conditioned to pony up big charitable sums by events such as the Met Gala.
This matters because there is less of a private philanthropic tradition in Europe than there is in the US.
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Historically, the French state has supported the arts.
Those budgets are shrinking, however, and the Louvre is at the beginning of a massive renovation project – one estimated to cost €700mil to €800mil (approximately RM3.4bil to RM3.8bil) – though rumours are that it could be as high as €1.5bil (RM7.2bil). Enter the Grand Diner.
Still, the sums involved reflect the reality that this approach is just in its infancy.
Tables of 10 went for €50,000 (RM240,200) instead of the Met’s US$350,000 (RM1.6bil), and the total sum raised was about €1mil (RM4.8mil) – a record for the party, but significantly less than the Met’s US$26mil (RM115mil) in 2024 (to be fair, no other cultural event in the US comes close to that number either).
All of it goes to the Louvre’s restoration and educational initiatives, as Visa, which sponsored the fashion exhibition, also underwrote the costs of the party.
In any case, Des Cars said the evening was everything she had imagined.
And when asked if the Grand Diner would become an annual fixture on the fashion week and museum schedule, Des Cars said she thought so – though the Louvre is not the only French museum that has considered taking a page from the Met and hosting a fashion gala to raise money and attention.
In July, during the couture shows, the Musee Des Arts Decoratifs, which happens to be located within the Louvre palace, is to host its first Bal De L’Ete (Summer Ball), another grand black-tie event.
Though at the moment the table prices, which skew more to Met-level than the Grand Diner, are a subject of some controversy. Thus the battle of the fashion fundraisers begins. – ©2025 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
