Schiaparelli’s iconic designs take centre stage at exclusive Monaco boutique

As the jet-set begin flocking to Monaco for vacations in the Riviera, Maison Schiaparelli has set up its exclusive summer quarters at the iconic Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo. 

From 15th June to 30th September, Maison Schiaparelli will have its ephemeral boutique in the heart of this Belle Époque palace, recreating in the courtyard the cosy and surreal world of its salons on Place Vendôme, along with its exclusive Spring-Summer 2024 collection. 

“The objective of Artistic Director Daniel Roseberry is to recreate the legendary artistry and timelessness of the iconic designer Elsa Schiaparelli into the new Spring-Summer collection of clothing and accessories,” Delphine Bellini, CEO of Maison Schiaparelli, told Monaco Life. “Each piece in the collection, audacious and contemporary, carries a timeless allure that is sure to captivate.” 

Schiaparelli Boutique at the Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo

Schiaparelli at sea

Marine details, a hallmark of Elsa Schiaparelli’s abundant imagination, inspired Artistic Director Daniel Roseberr, with sailor stripes, fish scale embroidery, a 3D lobster on a skirt, crab claw earrings, and hand-made gold ceramic shell necklaces all featuring in the collection. 

Soft jackets, free-line prints, poplins, denim in the sand and colours of the sky form the backdrop for a very Schiap daytime wardrobe. Jewelled buttons, tape measure embroidery, anatomical ornaments, and padlocks enhance each creation. 

Schiaparelli for evenings under the stars includes velvet, silk, and jersey with the sophistication that befits red carpets: long flowing dresses with dizzying necklines, mini evening dresses, tuxedos and embroidered bolero jackets, high-waisted pants, and romantic embroidered tops.

Maison Schiaparelli, with its dazzling enduring legacy, continues to offer today’s women the essence of daring style and perennial allure, a testament to its rich history and tradition.

Schiaparelli Anatomy face leather bags

The legend lives on

Maison Schiaparelli was established in 1927 by Italian-born French designer Elsa Schiaparelli. By 1935, it had become a leader in haute couture, branching out into jewellery, perfume, cosmetics, lingerie, and swimwear. The hallmark of Schiaparelli’s designs is the transformation of shapes and the reimagining of silhouettes. Elsa Schiaparelli was an aristocratic Italian fashion designer, poet, and artist, known for creating the trompe l’oeil sweater and introducing the “Shocking” pink colour. The brand continues to produce wearable art, merging inventive imagination with a revolutionary vision across sportswear, haute couture, and fragrance.

Schiaparelli’s iconic collaborations with artists like Dali, Cocteau, Man Ray, Giacometti, and Marcel Vertes are legendary. Among her many contributions to 20th-century fashion, Schiaparelli boldly defied conventions, infusing her designs with wit and humour and seamlessly blending art with dressmaking. While Chanel defined the classic woman’s look, Schiaparelli elevated it to another dimension, and her style was embraced by prominent starlets and actresses. 

In 2019, Daniel Roseberry was appointed Artistic Director of Schiaparelli. The brand operates from the historic Salons Schiaparelli at 21 Place Vendôme, Elsa’s former home and atelier.

Maison Schiaparelli has chosen the illustrious Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo as the setting for its summer pop-up boutique, immersing visitors in Schiaparelli’s audacious and timeless world of haute couture.

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Main photo: Schiaparelli Anatomy Face leather bag and the Toes Sneaker in canvas and gold toe moulding. All photos by Celina Lafuente de Lavotha for Monaco Life

 

Crowd cheers on as Princely Family take Olympic flame during historic stop in Monaco

For the first time since 1968, the eternal Olympic flame travelled the streets of Monaco, making a historic stop at the Place du Palais, where crowds gathered to witness this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

For only the second time in history, the eternal Olympic flame passed through the Principality as part of its journey through the Riviera to Paris on Tuesday 18th June. The last time the Olympic Flame passed through Monaco was in 1968, ahead of the Grenoble Winter Olympics.

As crowds gathered at Port Hercule and along the route up to the Place du Palais, the flame’s brief visit commenced at 2:15pm. Monegasque Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, fresh off his recent victory in the Monaco Grand Prix, began the procession from the Juan Manuel Fangio statue. The 26-year-old passed the torch to alpine skier Alexandra Coletti, who represented Monaco in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

The crowds gathered in the Place du Palais to welcome the Olympic flame to Monaco

“It’s the most special recognition an athlete can receive”

“It was so magical until the very end. Hearing the children scream with excitement made me feel proud to have participated in this exceptional moment… it’s the biggest and most special recognition (being a torchbearer) an athlete can receive,” Alexandra Coletti told Monaco Life.

Next in line was table tennis player Xiaoxin Yang, who has represented Monaco since 2013. Then, Rudy Rinaldi, a bobsledder who competed in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, carried the flame to the Malizia statue on the Place du Palais.

“I was so privileged to participate in this historic event today, alongside the Princely family and the other torchbearers,” Rinaldi told Monaco Life.

Rudy Rinaldi passes the Olympic flame to Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene.

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene take the flame

The final leg of the journey involved Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, who jointly carried the flame. The children screamed excitedly, waving their flags, and the crowd cheered on as the Princely couple made their way around the Place du Palais, concluding the relay.

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene are both Olympians. Prince Albert participated in five Winter Olympics as part of Monaco’s bobsleigh team, and Princess Charlene competed for South Africa in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriela, joined their parents and the torchbearers on stage for a photo with the flame before it was handed back to the flame keeper to continue its journey.

Prince Albert II, Princess Charlene, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella were excited to have participated in such a historic event

“It means everything to me that the flame passed through Monaco today, and it has been so long since it did that. It felt like history was being made today,” said Prince Albert II to Monaco Life. “I hope it will return to Monaco for the third time.”

At the Place du Palais, historical footage curated by the Audiovisual Institute of Monaco and the Archives of the Palace of Monaco provided a historical background on Monaco’s involvement in the Olympic Games. That same screen was also used to directly translate the flame arriving at the port and its journey to the Place du Palais so that the crowds did not miss a moment. 

Before it arrived in Monaco, the flame visited the mountain village resort of Valberg, with Antibes-Juan-les-Pins as its next destination.

Monaco Life was there! See more of the Olympic flame action in our reel below…

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Main Photo: Prince Albert II of Monaco with, from eft to right, Alexandra Coletti, Charles Leclerc, Princess Charlene, Xiaoxin Yang, Rudi Rinaldi. Photo by Monaco Life. 

Other photo credits: Eric Mathon / Axel Bastello / Michael Alesi / Gaetan Luci / Palais princier

Monaco joins 100 other nations and international organisations at Ukraine Peace Summit

ukraine peace summit

Over the weekend, representatives from the Principality joined delegations from 100 other nations and international organisations at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine in Bürgenstock, Switzerland.  

Among those sent by Monaco to the major meeting of international powers, which was held between 15th and 16th June, was Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, the Principality’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. She was accompanied by Carole Lanteri, Monaco’s official Ambassador to the Swiss Federal Council.  

More than 100 nations and international organisations gathered at the event, including Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and 50 Heads of State and Government from around the world.

Their joint mission was to discuss ways of opening doors to peaceful solutions and negotiations pertaining to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict and ultimately ease Ukraine and Russia out of this dangerous and destabilising war.  

Discussions centred around nuclear concerns and food safety, as well as the human elements of the conflict, such as mass displacement and questions surrounding prisoners of war.  

A declaration was adopted at the end of the conference whereby the “principles of the Charter of Nations and international law were reaffirmed but also the common vision which emerged during the discussions around the three themes mentioned”.  

It was then agreed that efforts to meet these goals should now get underway.  

Berro-Amadeï personally met with Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, during a side meeting where he thanked Monaco for its continued support, both bilaterally and within the multi-national framework.  

Read related:

Government latest: Educational grants, support for island states and international diplomacy

 

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Photo via Monaco Communications Department

Monte-Carlo SBM backs project transforming cigarette butts into insulation

An initiative created by the Monte-Carlo Casino to eliminate discarded cigarette butts from finding their way into the seas has morphed into a full-scale operation that has spread to the whole of the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer Group.  

Current estimates suggest that there are around 4.5 trillion cigarette butts polluting our planet. Stubbornly refusing to biodegrade and slowly emitting a chemical cocktail of toxic and carcinogenic substances, they frequently make their way into the natural environment, damaging soils, waterways, lakes and the oceans.  

There are several initiatives in place in the Principality that aim to limit the chances of cigarette butts being washed into the Mediterranean, from the Zéro Mégot campaign run by the Mairie de Monaco to the signs put up around the Place du Casino that remind the public to use the available rubbish bins and avoid littering. 

Signs and plaques bearing the words ‘The sea starts here’ can be found throughout the Place du Casino. Photo source: Monte-Carlo SBM

The Monte-Carlo Casino decided to take things further and, having collected up a massive amount of discarded butts, its management team reached out to TchaoMégot, a French company that specialises in recycling butts without using water or chemicals in a bid to turn them into useful items such as thermal insulation and other alternative products.  

Around 56,000 butts have already been sent to TchaoMégot. They have since been transformed into 15.8kg of insulation via a process that saved 28 million litres of water and 197kg of CO2 compared to traditional techniques.

This idea has now caught on and is being embraced by the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer Group (SBM), the owners of the Casino, who recently used some of this ingenious insulation at Monte-Carlo Beach. The hotel is now also collecting cigarette butts for TchaoMégot.  

For more information on the work being done by TchaoMégot, click here.

Read related:

Monaco revives free ashtray campaign to reduce cigarette butt pollution

 

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Main photo source: TchaoMégot, Facebook

 

Double the joy: Louis and Marie Ducruet announce happy baby news

Louis and Marie Ducruet have announced via social media that they are expecting their second child later this year. The couple revealed their happy news to the world with a sweet set of photographs of their one-year-old daughter Victoire and their dog Pancake.

Louis Ducruet, the son of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, and his wife of almost five years, Marie, have shared that they will be welcoming their second child in 2024.  

The announcement came on Monday 17th June via an Instagram post that featured the couple’s one -year-old daughter Victoire and their dog. 

“Pancake and Goldilocks have an announcement to make… They are expecting a new sibling, the family is growing,” they wrote in the joint post.  

In the two photographs that accompany the announcement, a curly-haired Victoire is pictured wearing a pink top emblazoned with the words ‘Big Sis’ while Pancake looks on in a neckerchief bearing the words ‘Oh no, not again!” 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Marie Ducruet (@marieducruet)

Thousands of well-wishers liked the post, with many expressing words of congratulations to the 31-year-old parents.  

The couple married on 27th July 2019 at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-Immaculée de Monaco following a courtship that began when both were attending the Skema Business School in Nice in 2011. Their first child was born in April 2023. 

See more: Princess Stephanie becomes a grandmother as son Louis and Marie Ducruet welcome first child

Louis is the eldest of Princess Stéphanie’s three children, and the only boy. His father is Daniel Ducruet, who was his mother’s bodyguard before becoming her husband. He is the president of both the Monaco eSport Federation and the Monaco Barbagiuans, a charity sports team started back in 1980 by Prince Albert II.   

Marie is from Nice and is Head of Marketing Events and Protocol at Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer.  

 

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Photo source: Louis and Marie Ducruet, Instagram

Basketball: Mike James extends his contract with AS Monaco until 2027

mike james contract

AS Monaco Basket has confirmed that court star Mike James has signed a three-year contract extension, securing his future with the Roca Team until 2027.  

Since joining AS Monaco Basket in 2021, Mike James has more than proved his worth as a player and as a leader among his teammates.

He has been particularly strong during the 2023/24 season, being named Most Valuable Player in the EuroLeague, despite the Roca Team failing to make the Final Four, as well as Most Valuable Player in the recent Betclic Elite Final, which saw the Monaco side become Champions of France for the second year running. 

His cumulative efforts over the past few seasons have also seen him take the title of the EuroLeague’s all-time leading scorer, with a career total of 4,623 points in 282 games. 

See more: Roca Team’s Mike James crowned best scorer in EuroLeague history

The 33-year-old American averaged 17.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game this past season, and was an essential element in securing the Betclic Elite championship title at the recent league final against Paris.  

Read related:

AS Monaco Basket become Champions of France for second year in a row

 

Monaco Life is produced by real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on Threads,  Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn and Tik Tok

 

Photo credit: AS Monaco Basket