A GLAMOUROUS SUMMER EXHIBITION july 5th - september 4th A tribute to the swimsuits of the 1950s Pin-Ups, sublime pieces of the feminine wardrobe From July 5th to September 4th 2017 Galerie Joseph 7 rue Froissart 75003 Paris From 11am to 8pm open every day Entry : 6 euros Following the success of the retrospective 70 years of Bikini in Paris, Lyon, New York, and Milan in 2016, fashion historians and expert collectors Ghislaine Rayer and Patrice Gaulupeau present a new exhibition dedicated to swimsuits. This event is part of the Hollywood cycle comprised of 2 cultural events at the heart of the Marais*. The Joseph Gallery, popular place of the world of fashion, welcomes during the summer a Fashion exhibition of 60 swimsuits from the golden age of Hollywood bathing during the 1950s. This is paralleled with a photographs exhibition of the greatest stars in swimsuit (Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, Jayne Russel, Esther Williams ) The flagship item of the exhibition is a glamourous velvet swimsuit worn by Marilyn Monroe during a photo shooting for the star brand Catalina.
A HISTORICAL AND FASHIONABLE DESCENT INTO THE BEHIND THE SCENE OF POSTWAR HOLLYWOOD WHEN A GLAMOUROUS TREND EMERGES FROM CENSORSHIP During the 1950s, Hollywood actresses could not be seen wearing lingerie or lightly dressed. In order to circumvent the rules, movie producers decided to ask their celebrities to pose having a swimsuit on. This could highlight their attractive physique. The enthusiasm that these pictures generated opened the reign of the Pin-Ups. The most famous was and remains Bettie Page, who, even if she was known for the pictures where she wore sexy lingerie, owed success to her photo shoot in leopard swimsuit, which launched a new trend for this print. The golden age of seaside resorts in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s is also linked to the insouciance of the postwar era, music, beach, surfing, and a new art of living! The trend for bathing increased to such an extent that brands stretched their imagination to create swimsuits for stars, which made women sublime. Some of them became iconic and the Pin-Up or vintage fashion has a bright future since reproductions of these pieces are still appreciated by teenage girls as well as by women.
curators Ghislaine Rayer et Patrice Gaulupeau Fashion antiquarians, then expert collectors specialized in lingerie, corsets, and bathing suits, Ghislaine Rayer and Patrice Gaulupeau have bought, collected, and exposed the more beautiful and luxurious items in these three domains. Patiently bargain-hunted all over the world, the items presented in the collection are remarkably rare, diverse, well-preserved, and historically relevant. With more than 5000 textile pieces and hundreds of photo archives, adverts, catalogs, magazines, POS, packaging, and so on, this collection is today one of the most important in the world including museum collections. For Pin-Up, the Golden Age of Seaside Bathing, these experts open the doors of the collection in order to present the often little known history of the postwar swimming suit! www.nuitsdesatin.com
the exhibition Focused on Marylin Monroe with, for the very first time in Europe, the lace and velvet swimsuit she wore for a photo shoot of the brand Catalina in 1951. Pictures of the photo shoot go with the mythical swimsuit. High-fashion swimsuits designed by emblematic American brands (Jantzen, Catalina, Cole of California, ) and created for pin-ups and Hollywood stars. A presentation of swimsuits taken from aquatic Hollywood movies, in which Esther Williams was an illustrious mermaid. A corner dedicated to luxury swimsuit which equated and surpassed evening dresses at the select Pool Parties thrown in Hollywood. The exhibition also puts forwards the European tendencies of the 1950s, the Brigitte Bardot style or the New York spirit when the collaboration between great French fashion designers (Dior, Jacques Fath, Schiaparelli) and great American brands give birth to a timeless, high-fashion style. Rare photographical archives and advertisements by the best illustrators of the period (Gruau, Vargas, Petty, etc ).
A HISTORICAL AND FASHIONABLE DESCENT INTO THE BEHIND THE SCENE OF THE MACCARTHYST ERA WHEN A GLAMOUROUS TREND EMERGES FROM CENSORSHIP During the 1950s, the prevailing puritanism, omnipotent McCarthyism, and the lobby of American society virtue leagues influence the world of fashion. Among these associations and other repressive organisms, one of them will take action for more than 30 years and disrupt the course of a thriving industry: the Hays code also known as the Motion Picture Production Code a self-censorship guide for the Hollywood film-making community. In practice, the strict application of the code demands to follow preposterous rules: kisses are timed, nudity is banned, revealing costumes are excluded, beds, even marital, compulsorily become twin beds Undressing scenes and provocative lingerie must be avoided, except when they constitute an essential element of the scenario. In addition, William Hays, subjected to a peculiar type of fetishism, personally tracks feminine navels. High-waisted, two-piece outfits becomes the only sexy and glamour piece which is authorized when shooting and promoting a movie. As for the one-piece swimsuit, it makes the stars sublime by unveiling their physical assets, but within the rules! Bathing Beauty is the first movie produced in Hollywood which is 100% aquatic. Somptuously filmed in the biggest studio ever built at the time, its scenes of synchronized swimming, majestically choreographed by the master of the time Busby Berkeley, transform Esther Williams into a star whose only apparel is a swimsuit. These outfits, sometime provocative for the time, can be considered as works of art in terms of style. Nicknamed the Hollywood Mermaid, the American actress, after being the star in about twenty movies, became a successful business woman by creating swimsuits. Inspired by the costumes of her movies, she works for the Brand Catalina and then launches her own label, still commercialized today.
MARILYN MONROE, PIN-UP AND STAR, ICONIC AMBASSADRESS OF SWIMSUIT BRANDS Marilyn Monroe is the glamorous icon par excellence. The word photogenic was invented for her. But the actress would never have imagined having such a destiny. Born from an unknown father and a schizophrenic mother, placed in a foster family at the age of 9, she finds herself married, in 1942, at the age of 16, to a worker who enrolls in merchant navy. Marilyn, who did not have a degree, ends up in the same factory as her husband where she folds parachutes. It is there that she is noticed by an army photograph named David Conover who wanted to illustrate the implication of women in the war effort. He was also looking for a physique to stimulate the morale of the troops sent abroad when he discover Norma Jean, an 18-year-old girl, who looked interesting, even in overalls Thanks to this series of pictures published in the YANK magazine in 1945, she appears on the cover of about thirty pin-up magazines and begins to be known as the Mmmmm girl. She gives up her job to start a career as a model, especially for Blue Book Modeling Agency. In December 1945, she shoots her first test-film for the agency in order to promote swimsuits. The sex bomb was born and her career begins Even when she becomes an actress, and a star, she remains the uncontested ambassadress of beachwear which use over and over again her smile and her incomparable physique to promote their swimsuits. Marilyn is not a legend, but THE legend!
DID YOU KNOW? WHERE DOES THE WORD PIN-UP COME FROM? A pin-up is a dreamed representation of a woman a drawing or a photograph in an alluring or sexy posture. The Anglo-Saxon expression, pin-up girl, could be translated in French as jeune femme épinglée au mur - young woman pinned to the wall (to pin: épingler). During World War II, the pin-ups, symbolizing charm and eroticism, achieve great success, especially among soldiers, and notably among GIs. Representations of pin-ups were frequently seen on the walls of their barracks or on their packs. Some pilots, with their superiors blessing, had them painted on their bomber s nose. The 1950s became the golden age of the pin-ups, especially in the United States. At the time, they are everywhere and appear on the cover of magazines, newspapers, posters, calendars, collectible vignettes, The pin-up success story goes on until the 1970s when they are used in advertisement. Even Coca Cola will ask Marilyn Monroe to promote the famous soft drink. In the aftermath of the creation of erotic magazines such as Playboy or Penthouse, the trend progressively disappears and is replaced by realistic pictures of naked, less fantasized women. Recent years bear witness to a renewed interest for these muse from the 1950. Fashion, advertising, media, and artists bring this style up to date. Dita von Teese is the high priestess of the trend. She celebrates in her international shows the return of the pin-up.
EUROPEAN TRENDS IN THE 1950 s During the 1950s, the swimsuit is worn either as two pieces (highwaisted panties which cover the belly and the navel, in particular) or as a one-piece outfit which allows to undress without being immodest. The decade witnesses a creative development of the high fashion one-piece and the short skirt swimsuits. The short skirt swimsuit is the greatest success of the 1950s! Designed to dress the bather a bit more, it can be worn at the pool bar or the garden of the hotel. The maillot is not necessarily for bathing any more, it can be worn on the beach or at cocktail parties what Americans call pool parties. A flamboyant seaside style impose itself during the decade. Prints have the place of honor as well as the lamé. Swimsuits are brightened up with row of buttons, fake lacing, waistband and broad pockets. Skirts can be straight, slightly open, like wrap dresses or like shorts. However, the rationing of material during the postwar period in Europe slows the success of dressy swimsuits down. Only a few top of the range brands attempt it. Famous fashion designers collaborate with market-leading American brands: Jacques Fath promotes the Sutex brand, whereas Christian Dior associates his name with Cole of California and Elsa Schiarparelli works together with Catalina.
A FASHION STORY: THE ONE-PIECE THE COMEBACK OF THE ONE-PIECE SWIMSUIT IN OUR DRESSING ROOM Did you know? The turnover for swimsuits (2015) amounts to 617.9 million euros. In 2015, the one-piece constitutes 30% of the sales figures and reaches a record level with 4.8 million pieces sold, that is to say 1.5 million more in a year, with an average price of 36.90 euros. Unavoidable and timeless, the one-piece reflects practical common sense. It allows to be undressed without excess. It emphasizes physical assets while concealing possible flaws, here and there Today more than ever, this type of swimsuit unfurls on the beaches all over the world and captures all the trends. It merges with the sports spirit or, on the contrary, flirts with high fashion. The back is decorated with delicate details and more sophisticated ornamentations. Like the small black dress, it finds its place in each wardrobe, regardless of generations. PIN-UP, THE GOLDEN AGE OF SEASIDE BATHING Galerie Joseph 7 rue Froissart, 75003 Paris From 11am to 20pm open every day Entry : 6 euros Information info@galeriejoseph.com 01 42 71 20 22 Curators : Ghislaine Rayer and Patrice Gaulupeau Galerist : Michael Timsit www.galeriejoseph.com CONTACT PRESSE - AKAGENCY Tél : + 33 1 44 88 21 27 Aleksandra Kawecki : aleksandra@akagencyparis.com Anne Rabasse : annerabasse.akagency@gmail.com Jennifer Sieng : jennifer.akagency@gmail.com