Why does Saint Laurent open its bookshop (or culture as a new flagship product)?

Saint Laurent has opened a cultural boutique at 9 rue de Grenelle, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. In addition to books, music and art objects, the space will also host cultural events, such as DJ sessions, author readings and autographs, the house specifies in a press release.

What can you find in the Saint Laurent Babylone cultural boutique?

For artistic director Anthony Vaccarello it’s about extending and strengthening one’s cultural influence, in particular through the selection of subversive books or albums that have become almost unobtainable. The house already has its own collection of beautiful books, Saint Laurent Rive Droite Éditions (or SLRD Editions, for short), in collaboration with artists such as Bruno Roels, Daido Moriyama, Jeanloup Sieff and Cai Guo Qiang.

For its first exhibition, Saint Laurent Babylone presents the work of feminist artist Rose Finn-Kelcey

And for its first exhibition, this new venue that is Saint Laurent Babylone welcomes the work of British artist Rose Finn-Kelcey. Died in 2014, this feminist artist and photographer is still little known in France. The shop will feature works by her from her series Brought back to its natural state by nibbling rose petals (1977), Here’s a Storm Warning (1971), From Variable to Moderate Light (1971), as well as Fog (1971).

Why is fashion so in love with artistic curation lately?

A porous, not to say cannibalistic, industry, fashion has the habit of feeding on all forms of art and digesting them in clothes. In addition to proudly showing off her good artistic tastes through increasingly sophisticated soundtracks and fashion show designs, she also likes to return the favor by sponsoring or even organizing exhibitions in museums and art galleries.

But now some houses are going even further, like Saint Laurent, which has started producing films by directors and is opening this boutique. It’s a way to extend your influence, ofassert one’s cultural capital and therefore increase one’s power of social distinction for oneself and one’s clientele. This also allows us to offer attractive products that are different from the usual cosmetics and leather goods, at a time when the general public is trying to reduce this type of consumption considered futile, and which is therefore among the first expense items to skip.

Extension of the field of cultural struggle

Another contemporary example, Courrèges and its music-loving artistic director Nicolas Di Felice joined forces with record store Dizonord to open a pop-up in the Marais, Paris, in mid-January. There you can find books, photos and cult records from the underground scene until February 25th. A way for this house to affirm its artistic identity, a coherence between its clothing style and its artistic tastes.

As Andy Warhol predicted in the 1960s, museums are in fact becoming shops dependent on big houses, sometimes capable of paying a lot to have exhibitions dedicated to them, while shops enjoy becoming museums. And now we’re even opening art gallery-style boutiques as an extension of the cultural struggle field.