The Azzedine Alaïa Foundation looks at the couturier’s lifelong link with Africa through three threads: the mashrabiya screen, raffia and the bandage dress. The show reveals how closely his way of building a garment follows the logic of architecture.
The Musée Maillol retrospective follows Versace from his draping and baroque prints to his home collections. It shows how bold colour and contrast, kept under control, work as well in a room as on a runway.
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs presents the royal wardrobe of Thailand, from hand-woven silk and gold embroidery to Queen Sirikit’s work with European couturiers. Its palette and textures offer interior design students plenty to borrow.
Annette Messager makes installations from fabric, thread, netting and soft toys, shown here among the collections of the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature. Her use of suspended objects and soft materials shows designers how to shape a room and give it personality.
The sunken lounge of the fifties to seventies is returning as people look for living rooms built around talk instead of a screen. The article explains how a pit changes the way people sit together, how it zones an open plan, and which materials suit it.