Macarons, anyone?
Sofia Coppola, who helped make the French confections a global phenomenon with her 2006 film “Marie Antoinette,” has been assigned the role of artistic director of the grand Parisian ball programmed for July 6, 2025, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
“I am honored to be entrusted with the artistic direction of the Bal d’Été,” the American filmmaker said in a press release Thursday. “This city is my beloved second home, so to celebrate this icon of French culture is especially inspiring to me.”
A frequent collaborator of Chanel who boasts a clutch of high-profile fashion friends headlined by Marc Jacobs, Coppola has directed such movies as “Priscilla,” “The Virgin Suicides,” and “Lost in Translation.”
“A tribute to French elegance and art de vivre, this Bal d’Été will kick off the Paris Haute Couture week by combining fashion, art and design,” according to the museum.
The soaring nave of the popular museum, the site of fashion shows for Thom Browne and Wales Bonner earlier this year, is hosting the fundraising gala to celebrate the centenary of the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris.
Sofia Coppola.
Courtesy of Les Arts Décoratifs
L’Oréal board member Jean-Victor Meyers, who is president of the honorary committee for the gala, called Coppola “the natural choice,” lauding her as “an artist who effortlessly blends fashion, music, cinema, art and design into immersive worlds.”
“She’s the perfect person to infuse this event with life, celebrating creativity in all its forms, supporting the museum and the schools that cultivate future designers, and spotlighting emerging talent,” he added.
While perhaps best known for its blockbuster fashion exhibitions dedicated to the likes of Thierry Mugler, Iris Van Herpen, Louis Vuitton, Dries Van Noten and Dior, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs also showcases its vast collections of furniture, tableware, textiles, jewelry, wallpaper, art and design objects, glass, toys, advertising, drawings and photographs.
Jean-Victor Meyers.
Courtesy of Les Arts Décoratifs
Indeed, it boasts one of the largest decorative arts collections in the world, spanning some 1.5 million objects dating from the Middle Ages through today.
At present the museum is hosting several exhibitions at its main site in the Louvre building’s Rohan and Marsan wings, including ones dedicated to silversmith Christofle and fashion photography of the ’20s and ’30s.
The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts took place on the Esplanade des Invalides, along both banks of the Seine and in and around the Grand Palais, from April to November 1925, according to documentation on the Musée des Arts Décoratifs website.
