Performance to the tradition to John Lennon's "Imagine" at the Opening Ceremony .
Since 1996, the Opening Ceremony anthem to humanity is the Beatles lyrics ...
Imagine there’s no heaven…
No hell below us…
Imagine there’s no countries…
Nothing to kill or die for…
And no religion too…
You, you may
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
Yoko Ono and John Lennon's peaceful words are about country, nationality, religion, war, and letting go of personal possessions.
Floats of Olympic athletes on the Seine sing for the shared love of "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" -- this intensely emotional unity lasted, perhaps, 75 televised minutes. Onward, the world proceeded in mass persecution of the French, because Christians felt persecuted.
Christian viewers interpreted the fashion show on the Passerelle Debilly bridge to be a satire of a hallowed scene with Jesus and his 12 disciples ("The Last Supper"). The artistic director of the Opening Cermemony, Thomas Jolly, explained that the tableau was certainly about Greek gods, to include Dionysus (god of festivity and wine), in celebratory feasting with Olympus (he is identified by a halo over his head) -- an apt tableau for the Olympics.
This wasn't Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper"...
... it was Giovanni Bellini and Titian's "Feast of Gods".
Paris Olympics spokeperson, Anne Descamps, and Jolly Thomas, delivered a public apology for the offense. Jolly expressed his intentions were not subversive and were to express passion for French freedoms and "community tolerance"
The purpose of the message accomplished, the Olympics saved the Summer for the French, who were worn by months of political limbo in the country. Paris residents who left the city even returned to share the optimistic French sentiments. Jolly had ambitions for the ceremonies to break the French citizens from the somber political atmosphere, and bring a respite for joy -- because, what authority tells you that you can't have fun?
A Joan of Arc rider transports the Olympic flag to be raised in commencement of the Games.
Daphe Burke was friend to Jolly's hopes and dreams for a France that could be. Burke, the visionary to dress the Opening and Closing ceremonies, selected the independent designers dedicating their work crafting a fashion future of empathy and understanding. This was a moment in sustainable fashion in human connectedness.
These artisans re-imagined the meaning of modernity. Avante-garde design-thinking pursue values in sustainable relationships and kindness to "people and plant".
Jeanne Friot collaborated with master leather craftsman Robert Mercier to create a Joan of Arc figure dressed by de-gendered fashion. This Joan of Arc protagonist is the story for gender-fluid fashion: she is a woman, outside the bounds of time, who wore men's clothes. Sustainable fashion is not a trend, but a timeless dress in non-conformity to societal codes.
Alphonse Maitrepierre was one of 15 emerging designers representing LVMH's thought leadership.
Streetwear brands such as Ouest Paris and C.R.E.O.L.E brought the union of subculture and couture. The French Team kit drop came from Pigalle designer Stephene Ashpool. Both Ashpool and athletes wanted to push the boundaries of uniform, without breaking from the French heritage in craftsmanship. The newer sports such as skateboarding and breakdancing received bespoke designs.
Pigalle's Stephane Ashpool designed a gradient blend of French flag colors to represent diversity.
We enter an era high-fashion-high-sports: athletes are choose endorsement for purpose-driven fashion over pay. Consumers are influenced by celebrities promoting the sustainable choice to buy better and buy "good". The French Olympic and Paralympic uniforms are designed in the hopes and dreams for a fashion future of inclusivity (of race, gender identity, and bodies).
LVMH sponsorship extended beyond the Olympic brand to include these independent artisans as beneficiaries. The emerging designers were a group of innovative thinkers who will advance LVMH's ESG (environment, social, and governance) goals to set the gold standard for the international metric. Fashion's future is in ethics and all fashion houses must incorporate a culture of DEI: diversity, equity and inclusion.
LVMH's sponsorship in the Olympics was the invisible hand opening doors for sustainability-minded couture ateliers.
After winning the Gold for Olympians and for these independent designers, what are their plans after the Paris Games?
Kevin Germanier is a LVMH prize finalist alumnus who has long jested about succession as creative director of Dior: while in waiting for the reign, he is writing the addendum codes of innovation for the couture house.
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