Article - May 30, 2025

A monumental creation celebrates Haute craftsmanship at the Grand Palais

From June 20, 2025, the Grand Palais welcomes you with a never-before-seen ornamental work visible from the main entrance. The fruit of an exceptional collaboration with le19M, CHANEL's Métiers d'art venue, this monumental curtain celebrates the wealth of excellent craftsmanship while sublimating the majesty of the glass roof.

Laboratory for excellence in fashion and decoration, le19M has brought together the expertise of all its resident Maisons d'art, under the artistic coordination of Studio MTX, a design studio and production workshop specializing in architectural embroidery, to create this 15-meter-high by 8-meter-wide creation, which is in keeping with the historic continuity of the Grand Palais.

It accompanies the second phase of the reopening of the monument, of which CHANEL is the exclusive and historic patron. More than a functional element, this curtain separating the central square from the glass roof stands out as a contemporary work of art, in direct dialogue with the architecture and history of the monument.

Marqueterie de plumes Lemarié — Marqueterie de plumes / Lemarié

A textile tribute to the architecture of the Grand Palais

Composed of nine mobile panels suspended from the joists, the curtain is manipulated by hand in a gesture respectful of scenic traditions and the heritage structure. A creation that lets the iconic glass roof of the Grand Palais appear in a simple yet solemn movement.

The sculptural verticality of the installation echoes the impressive scale of the Nave. The motif, made up of vertical rectangles, evokes suspended rain, a delicate ballet of light drops that naturally invites you to look up at the glass and steel sky.

The chromatic palette is directly inspired by the monument's architecture: a reseda green, the signature of the metal structure, subtly graded towards shades of white and deep blue, like a horizon in motion.

Originally conceived as a partition between the Nave of the Grand Palais and its central space, the device has established itself as a contemporary work in its own right. Both functional and poetic, it pays tribute to the Métiers d'art while blending harmoniously with the monument. Whether the curtain is open or closed, its embroidered panels remain visible, like a delicate echo to the gestures of the Maisons d'art artisans at the heart of the monument.

A frieze of excellence revealing the expertise of the Maisons d'art

Each of the 19M's resident Maisons d'art has worked on this common score, revealing its own expertise:

Atelier Montex, a Maison de broderie Haute Couture since 1949, has imagined a raised needlework of glass tubes and pearls, punctuated by geometric motifs.
Goossens, a Maison with unique expertise and singular aesthetics, at the crossroads of goldsmithing and artistic creation since 1950, has fashioned a series of unique pieces in pale gold gilded brass, textured and hammered by hand.
Lesage, an unmissable embroiderer of excellence since 1924, also specializing in textile creation and the particular weaving of tweed, has crafted a cotton tweed that appears as if devoured by Lunéville crochet embroidery.
Lemarié, an expert in the art of feather weaving since 1880, and which has since expanded its expertise to include flower weaving, couture, Atelier Lognon pleating and, finally, textile ennoblement, unveils a delicate feather marquetry that forms a geometric and sculptural constellation.

Broderie à l'aiguille des Atelier Montex — Broderie à l'aiguille / Atelier Montex

L'Atelier Lognon, specialized in the art of pleating since 1853, and integrated into Maison Lemarié in 2013, reveals a fancy accordion pleat crafted using an artisanal technique of excellence.
Maison Michel, renowned for its exceptional craftsmanship in the creation of hats and head accessories since 1936, has assembled and superimposed several materials in the manner of a subtle collage: felt, grosgrain and raffia, illustrating respectively its hat-making, millinery and straw expertise.
A benchmark for exceptional shoes since 1894, Massaro was inspired by the "flowery tips" typical of English brogues (floral motifs affixed to the front of the shoe) to create notched leather strips, hand-stitched with waxed linen thread, then dyed on the edges.
Fabricator of excellence specializing in flou and grand flou since 1982, Paloma has mobilized two techniques: Canadian smock and Italian smock, combining delicate embroidery and textile ennoblement.

Each ornamental strip, hand-stitched, bears witness to a precise artisanal gesture, transposing the virtuosity of Maisons d'art to architectural scale. The complete piece thus becomes a living manifesto: transmission, innovation and the valorization of Métiers d'art come together in the service of a reinvented heritage.

A work of art to be contemplated... all year round!

Echoing this project, you discovered the genesis and manufacturing secrets of the work at the Ornementa exhibition, presented at Galerie du 19M. An immersive, participatory experience to learn about the know-how of 19M's resident Houses, which runs until the end of May, paving the way for the full-scale revelation of the project at the Grand Palais.

From June 20, head to the central square of the Grand Palais to contemplate the work in its setting!

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