Paris Deluxe: Place Vendome

About this book

Whenever the rich and famous are in Paris they head for the citys most beautiful square the Place Vendme and the two elegant streets leading to it-- the Rue de la Paix and the Rue de Castiglione. In this delightful book a veritable paean to conspicuous consumption Alexis Gregory reconstructs a wonderfully rich and varied tapestry of the changing life of the Place Vendme originally conceived by Jules Hardouin-Mansart First Architect to the Sun King Louis XIV as a tribute to the monarch. In text and photographs Paris Deluxe traces the history of the Place Vendme from the squares beginnings as a high-risk property speculation to its life in the twentieth century as Pariss center of fashion jewelry high finance and art a playground for international society that converges at the Paris Ritz undoubtedly still the most elegant expensive and comfortable hotel in the world. The cast of extraordinary personalities who have left their marks on the square covers the spectrum from fashion and jewelry-- names like Coco Chanel Elsa Schiaparelli Frederic Worth Cartier Boucheron-- to financiers J.P. Morgan and John Law and every prominent name in art and high society-- Edward Prince of Wales the Vanderbilts Baroness Guy de Rothschild Lillie Langtry Ren Lalique and the Crozats whose art collection was bought by Diderot for Catherine the Great. The presence of tycoons and crooks dealers and collectors couturiers and fashion plates jewelers and their royal clients politicians Russian Grand Dukes Indian Maharajas and celebrities from movie stars to Ernest Hemingway has lent the Place Vendme an ineffable aura. This luxuriously illustrated and evocatively written book will be cherished by every sybarite francophile and person of fashion.