PARIS — It’s not yet game over in the City of Lights.
On Wednesday evening, the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will open with “Paradoxe,” a show that will take place on the Champs-Elysées and Place de la Concorde.
Some 150 dancers, including some with disabilities, will take part in the performance imagined with Swedish ballet dancer and choreographer Alexander Ekman.
In keeping with the previous two Olympic ceremonies this summer in Paris, where independent designers scored big, Thomas Jolly, who is the artistic director of Paris 2024, and styling and costumes director Daphné Bürki called on Louis-Gabriel Nouchi for the event’s 700-plus costumes.
So it has been a busy four months for Nouchi, the 2023 ANDAM Fashion Award winner whose six-year-old label LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi shows during Paris Men’s Week and recently introduced womenswear.
When Nouchi was contacted by Bürki, her brief of inclusivity felt in step with what he’d been expressing since launching the brand, which hinges on gender-fluid collections with a literary inspiration and an eye towards size inclusivity while prioritizing the use of fabrics and materials with low environmental impact.
“Since this is at the heart of what I do in the brand it felt like a challenge I should undertake, so I jumped on it,” he told WWD. “But she did warn me straight away that it was outfits for all the dancers throughout the evening as well as a few extra [performing artists].”
That amounts to around 650 to 700 individual outfits, so work went at a brisk pace.
Still, he approached the project like a bespoke offer.
“I immediately put in place individual appointments with each of [the dancers with handicaps] to understand their needs but also ask them what kind of garments they’d always wanted to have but couldn’t find,” he said.
Nouchi was left awe-struck by these encounters. ”For them, [dressing] is an additional hurdle, as society already has a harsh gaze on those who deviate from [physical] norms,” he said.
While the designer demurred on details, he lauded Bürki and Jolly for taking on board a number of his suggestions, including with the use of couture-level techniques and embellishments. The support of the 20-strong costumes team led by Olivier Beriot was also invaluable to Nouchi.
“I didn’t want to fall into stage costume tropes. I wanted the outfits to be garments [dancers] didn’t have to think about so they could be fully focused on their performance and the emotion they need to transmit,” he continued. “The clothes are a supporting act.”
A number of artists and musical sets are also expected to be part of the Aug. 28 opener. According to elements revealed by the Paris 2024 organizers, Louis Vuitton will also be involved. The evening will also include the traditional procession of national delegations.
Nouchi characterized his approach to the Paris 2024 Paralympics opening ceremony as an encouragement for everyone to be “fierce and proud,” whatever their circumstance.
“Clothing is one information that participates in the way you want people to see you,” he said. “But remember you’re always in control of the narrative.”
