Photos: Christian Louboutin: L’Exhibition(iste)

You don’t have to be a shoe lover to appreciate the brilliance of the Grimaldi Forum’s new summer exhibition. Every inch of the enormous space has been used to transport visitors on a fantastical journey through the mind, and extraordinarily creative career, of the world’s most famous shoe designer, Christian Louboutin.

After the first edition at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris in 2020, ‘Christian Louboutin: L’Exhibition(iste), Chapter II’ opened to the public on Saturday 9th July at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco. The exhibition, redesigned by curator Olivier Gabet, Director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, is devoted to the work and imagination of Christian Louboutin, a shoe designer and key figure in the world of fashion. It is based around themes that reveal Louboutin’s eclecticism – couture, travel, the extremes of fantasy and innovation.

It is a fun and sophisticated odyssey through 30 years of prolific creativity, a journey in which emotion and expertise intermingle with his love for performance and a sense of humour.

But chapter two of this artistic venture goes one step further in Monaco. Louboutin the designer becomes Louboutin the curator as he showcases carefully selected art works and sculptures, and reveals his friendship with artists.

Room two of Christian Louboutin: L’Exhibition(iste) features huge stained glass windows designed by Louboutin, photo by Monaco Life

The journey begins in a room bathed in red, before moving onto a church-like space showcasing where it all began for Christian Louboutin. The black room, highlighted by incredible, large stained-glass windows specially designed by Louboutin, features the first shoes that he ever designed and made himself – ingenious, humorous shoes that reveal the boldness of those initial stages of his creative career, and that won clients over at Louboutin’s first boutique in Paris, from Madonna to Princess Caroline of Monaco.

In inventing the red sole, Christian Louboutin found his signature that was to be recognised the world over.

Then, from room to room, visitors are taken on an elaborate journey through the artistic mind of the designer; they are given the opportunity to witness his most iconic creations, chosen from a corpus which today constitutes thousands of designs – some one-offs, others templates for series that would continue for decades.

The ‘Theatre Room’ is a nod to Paris nightclub Le Palace, photo by Monaco Life

One room is a veritable treasure chamber, the circular space evoking a catacomb where the designer – who is still very much alive – becomes a deity, immortalised and revered, and sent to the gods surrounded by gold, silver, and his iconic creations. Is the blood splattered cavity with an apocalyptic pair of men’s golden Louboutins a clue as to how he came to his demise?

The journey moves from genius imagination to fantastical reality, where whimsical videos feature a mini-Christian Louboutin following the process of handmade shoe making, before it reaches a charming old granny’s house in a typical British street, in which the knick knacks, upon close inspection, reveal works of photographer Pierre Moliniere (1900-1976), who used to transform himself into a hypersexualised woman.

“This audacious ‘period room’ shows how much the ideas we have about shoes are shaped by projections and suggestions that are often a long way from reality, and sometimes more obvious,” we are told in one of the written guides that accompany each room.

The ‘Period Room’ is another bizarre journey into the mind of Christian Louboutin, photo by Monaco Life

The exhibition also reveals Louboutin’s love of music and dance, which he has had from an early age, being a child of the famous Paris nightclub Le Palace. A large number of pieces related to this domain have been brought together within a theatre set that has been specially created by Bhutanese artists in the grounds of the royal palace in Thimphu, including carved wooden elements that Louboutin devised in collaboration with the artisans.

The “imaginary museum” is a personal tribute to the artists and artworks that have been Christian Louboutin’s constant companions since his teenage years, serving as the inspiration for his eclecticism, from queer culture and Gandharan art, to photography and contemporary African art.

The tour ends as it began – a Pop Corridor bathed in red, a “passageway between two worlds”, where portraits of celebrities in music and cinema intertwine with magazine covers, extracts from television shows and social media posts, each serving as a reminder of how much Christian Louboutin’s work has been embraced by the talents of our time, all making his name legendary in contemporary design and fashion culture.

Christian Louboutin: L’Exhibition(iste) is open at the Grimaldi Forum until 28th August.

Click on the gallery below for more pictures of Christian Louboutin: L’Exhibition(iste)…

 

 

Photos by Cassandra Tanti, Monaco Life…

 

 

 

 

Delighted visitors to Palace get photo op with Princess

Princess Charlene gave tourists to the Palace a thrill as she stopped to chat and take photos with them on Wednesday, a lovely gesture that will create a lifetime memory for those she met.

A smiling and relaxed Princess Charlene gave visitors to the Prince’s Palace serious bang for their buck when she made an unscheduled appearance during a guided tour

The Princess is shown on photos released by the Palace’s social media pages looking her ever-chic self in a sleeveless black tunic and cream trousers. She is featured with a group of schoolchildren in one snap and with her arm around a beaming tourist in another, exuding a warmth that is indicative of her personal approach to the public.

Princess Charlene joined visitors on a tour of the Prince’s Palace on Wednesday, photo by Eric Mathon/Prince’s Palace

Not just a by-stander, Charlene joined in as these lucky visitors walked around the newly refurbished Grand Apartments with her as she pointed out points of interest. She also was happy to point out the Renaissance frescoes that have been lovingly restored over the past few years and are only this summer being unveiled to the public.

The social media post read “Yesterday afternoon, H.S.H. Princess Charlene introduced a few guests to the recently refurbished Grand Apartments of the Prince’s Palace as well as the Renaissance frescoes unveiled to the public after several years of restoration work. Princess Charlene also went to meet holidaymakers visiting the magnificent salons of the Prince’s Palace.”

The appearance is a boost for those who have missed seeing the Princess at events, and seems to show she is well on her way back to good health.

 

Photos: Eric Mathon / Prince’s Palace

 

Covid latest: circulation, hospitalisations continue to rise

Monaco has seen its Covid incidence rate hit 994, while in the Alpes-Maritimes it reached as high 1,407.5, indicating the region is well and truly in its sixth wave of the pandemic.

Monaco’s Covid picture is much like the rest of Europe, with a relatively high number of new cases, but not a huge amount of concern. As of 11th July, the weekly incidence rate had risen to 994, up from the previous 748.

The week of 3rd to 10th July saw 389 new cases with 31 people hospitalised. Of those, 16 are residents. For the first time in months, two patients have been admitted to intensive care, one of whom is a resident.

Meanwhile, there are 197 people being looked after by the Home Monitoring Centre, the government’s programme that medically supports patients with light symptoms.

The number of Covid scans carried out last week, between PCR and antigen tests, sits at 2,250 with a very high positivity rate of 26.7%.

In the Alpes-Maritimes, there are currently 87 patients in intensive care. This brings the intensive care occupancy level to 19%, which is lower than the national rate of 23%. The incidence rate, however, is 1,407.5, with a high 30.5% positivity rate. According to French health figures, 84.5% of those infected have the Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 variant.

Despite the high numbers, the local courts have overturned Mayor Christian Estrosi’s mandate to wear masks on public transportation that was set to go into effect 11th July. Judges at the administrative court of Nice ruled that the Covid situation in the city did not merit differing rules from the rest of the country. 

In Monaco, the Prince’s government has “strongly recommended” people wear masks on public transport and busy, populated areas.

 

 

 

Photo of the CSM Covid testing laboratory by Monaco Life

 

 

 

 

Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp blow fans away in Monaco

Musical legend Jeff Beck and quirky actor Johnny Depp hit the stage together at the Opera de Monte-Carlo Saturday night for a sold-out one-night-only show that went on for four hours to the delight of an enthusiastic crowd.

Actor Johnny Depp, best known for taking on eccentric roles in top Hollywood films, has a not-so hidden talent. Turns out Depp, 59, is quite the musician as well. This was shown to full measure on Saturday night when he hit the stage with Jeff Beck, who regularly appears on lists as one of the greatest rock ‘n roll guitarists of all time.

Depp joined Beck on stage halfway through the 19-song set and played the Link Wray & His Ray Men classic “Rumble” before heading to the microphone to sing on the Dennis Wilson track ‘Time’, followed by the Killing Joke’s, ‘Death And Resurrection Show’.  He also performed ‘This is a song for Miss Hedy Lamarr’, a tune of his own making.

The duo announced an upcoming album last month, entitled 18, which is due to come out on 15th July, and have even made a music video for their first single, the aforementioned ‘This is a song for Miss Hedy Lamarr’.

“It’s an extraordinary honour to play and write music with Jeff, one of the true greats and someone I am now privileged enough to call my brother,” Depp said in a release.

“I haven’t had another creative partner like him for ages,” Beck said of Depp. “He was a major force on this record. I just hope people will take him seriously as a musician because it’s a hard thing for some people to accept that Johnny Depp can sing rock and roll.”

The concert seems to show that the actor has moved on from the media circus brought on by the defamation lawsuit between him and his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Depp won all three defamation claims in the case, stemming from an op-ed Heard wrote in 2018 about her being a survivor of domestic abuse.

The trial was widely televised and became must-see TV for millions but did little to portray either party in a noble light.

Now, Depp is turning his energies to music to good effect. “He enjoys performing and has a busy summer ahead,” a Depp insider told People Magazine recently. “He is also looking forward to continue working. He just wants his career back. He loves filming.”

 

 

 

Photo source: Monte-Carlo SBM

 

 

 

Rosberg X Racing win in Sardinia

Nico Rosberg’s RXR team has won round three of the second Extreme E season in an action-packed week of racing on the sands of Sardinia.

Rosberg X Racing (RXR) were looking to bounce back from a disappointing first round on Thursday, where after taking the chequered flag, a hefty penalty saw them demoted to the bottom step of the podium. Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky brought the car home for what seemed a comfortable victory, but Johan Kristoffersson’s huge first-lap collision with Carlos Sainz, which brought out a red flag, saw Rosberg’s team handed a 30-second time penalty.

Due to their sizable lead, the team still managed a place on the podium, whilst the No.99 GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing team took their maiden victory of the electric rallying series.

RXR went into the second race of the week, and the third round of the series, looking to once again hit the front. The team have looked imperious, not just on the sands of Sardinia, but since the inception of the series over a year ago.

The reigning champions made light work of getting into the final, but didn’t have things all their own way in the race itself. Nasser Al-Attiyah gave the ABT team a healthy lead after his stint, but things fell apart for the team during the crossover.

Comically, it was the benign infringement of forgetting to put on her seatbelt that cost Jutta Kleinschmidt and the rest of the ABT team a place on the podium. That decision, however, was taken post-race so in her mind, RXR’s Ahlin-Kottulinsky needed to chase down the ABT for the victory.

She pulled off a spectacular late overtake through the water to take the lead and the chequered flag. ABT came home in second, but were later disqualified for the seat-belt infringement, giving Lewis Hamilton’s X44 side second place.

“It is such a pleasure to work with this team,” Rosberg said post-race. “It reminds me of my F1 days. It’s been a great team effort with everyone giving their best and being at the height of their game. Both drivers have been performing at an incredibly high level… I couldn’t be prouder.”

Extreme E doesn’t return until late September now, when the penultimate race of the season, the ‘Copper XPrix’, will take place in Chile.

 

 

 

Photo of 1st position, Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (SWE) / Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing with trophies during the Sardinia II on July 10, 2022 in Capo Teulada, Sardinia, Italy. Photo by Colin McMaster