Inauguration party for Levi’s boutique on the Champs Elysées
Owning a boutique on the world’s most beautiful avenue has become a key visibility factor for major brands. It’s an international showcase.
We arrive at 7pm sharp. The security teams are in place. We enter, then descend the few steps that lead us to a vast 650m2 space.
The space has been entirely restructured and redecorated to highlight the brand’s exciting history. Its three floors take customers on a journey through the brand’s unique heritage. The boutique also echoes the magnificent architecture of the building in which it is located on the Champs-Élysées: the entrance gives the impression that the avenue leads directly to the boutique itself.
Inside, the shelves are floor-to-ceiling, and the jeans are impeccably arranged. Of course, you’ll also find the brand’s other products. You can sip a cup while listening to the sound of Pédro Winter.Levi’s also celebrates the brand’s ties with France. A few historical reminders. The heritage of denim goes back to the 17th century and the twill, a strong fabric born in Nîmes, France. A century later, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis transformed their own American denim into the very first pair of jeans. This new uniform of progress was quickly adopted by freethinkers the world over. Since then, French and American cultures have continually inspired, taught and borrowed from each other. This transatlantic friendship has propelled both countries forward, giving rise to numerous movements in music, film, art and fashion. With the arrival of the new Levi’s store on the Champs-Élysées, the brand celebrates the ties that unite the United States and France, and the cultural movements that this relationship has inspired. Levi’s will host a series of collaborations between influential members of French culture and their American alter egos.For two months, music legends Pedro Winter, better known as Busy P, of Ed Banger Records (Paris), and James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and DFA Records (New York), as well as street artists Mr. Andre (Paris) and Shepard (New York), will be on hand. Andre (Paris) and Shepard Fairey (Los Angeles) will share their love of their respective cultures, creative spirits and countries through music- and art-themed installations, limited-edition collaborative garments (custom Trucker jackets, graphic t-shirts), and a series of events, screenings and interactive workshops.The first collaboration, “Vive Les Friends”, consists of two large sculptural installations designed by James Murphy and Pedro Winter in collaboration with Levi’s and exclusively for the Levi’s boutique on the Champs-Élysées. Both James and Pedro have created structures using objects linked to their past, reminiscent of their families.James’ work is a conglomeration of speakers, a nod to the installation dubbed “Death From Above” that he conceived in his early days as a sound engineer: a series of integrated screens broadcast 8mm portraits of the extended DFA Records family in New York.Entitled “Travel, Family, Party”, Pedro’s installation is a skateboard ramp-like structure made from skateboards, a reminder of his youth as a skateboarder, inspired by this typically American sport. Printed directly on the boards is a photo collage by Ed Banger Records artistic director So Me, illustrating Pedro’s hectic, slightly more adult life in the Paris electro scene.Vive Les Friends” exhibition of objects from France and the USA In glass display cases on the first floor of the new store, Levi’s has brought together a variety of objects borrowed from the studios and offices of James Murphy and Pedro Winter. These never-before-seen objects offer a glimpse into the lives of the two musicians: they are tools they use, things they care about.The exhibition includes James Murphy’s DFA coffee mug, the boom box he sampled for his track “Losing My Edge”, as well as Pedro’s personal mixtapes and his first MTV Music Video Award. The installation will be on show for a limited time only, as part of the musical chapter of the “Vive Les Friends” exhibition.On the mezzanine between the store’s two lower levels, the Levi’s brand has created a lounge space designed as a recording studio to pay tribute to James Murphy and Pedro Winter.
In the middle of the studio is a customized keyboard that allows customers to mix DFA and Ed Banger Records samples and record the result directly onto their cell phone.Built by Parisian artists Vincent Tordjman, FreaKa and Mehdi Shobo Hercberg, the DFA & Ed Banger keyboard is inspired by vintage synthesizers, stars of French and American dance.In the studio, you’ll also find a vinyl listening station featuring a selection of the top 25 albums of all time chosen by Pedro and James, as well as stamps, ready-to-post envelopes and replicas of the iconic stamps used by DFA Records for their albums.Although they often meet on dancefloors, DFA (James Murphy) and Ed Banger Records (Pedro Winter) have never officially collaborated… until now. This series of four limited-edition T-shirts, developed by Levi’s® as a tribute to these two influential independent music labels, combines DFA’s famous lightning bolt logo and Ed Banger’s musical note, with an exclusive U.S.-French-themed illustration by Ed Banger Records art director So Me, featuring the Eiffel Tower and King Kong.Since its introduction in 1967, the Levi’s Trucker jacket has been the preferred medium of artists the world over, from the neighborhoods of the Bronx to the favelas of Brazil. As part of the “Vive Les Friends” collaboration, the Levi’s® brand produced a limited series of two Trucker jackets customized by Pedro Winter and James Murphy. Pedro enlisted the help of Parisian tattoo studio Bleu Noir to hand-draw the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, the symbol of the Montmartre district where Pedro lives. James Murphy and DFA art director Michael Vadino chose to depict the Eiffel Tower upside down, in the form of the lightning bolt in the DFA logo. James added the phrase “Too Old To Be New, Too Young To Be Classic” to the illustration, perhaps referring to the Parisian monument, its music, dance in general, or nothing at all. Each Trucker jacket is limited to 75 pieces, and will go on sale exclusively at the Levi’s boutique on the Champs-Élysées from May 11.
For more information on the Levi’s brand, products and points of sale, visit www.eu.levi.com
Levi’s Flagship is open 7 days a week,
From 10am to 10pm Monday to Saturday
From 10am to 9pm Sunday.
76 avenue des Champs-Élysées, at the corner of Galerie des Arcades, Paris.
Julien Tissot
[email protected]
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
