PARIS — As French vintage specialist Didier Ludot prepares to shutter his store at the Palais-Royal after 50 years, he has some regrets.
After decades of catering to celebrities including Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Demi Moore, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, he finds today’s clientele is just not the same.
“I no longer relate to the fashion scene,” he said at a preview of the sale on Thursday of the last 380 pieces from his archive at auction house Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, capping off Paris Couture Week.
“I was fortunate to live through an extraordinary time when all the women who came to the store were passionate about fashion, so we would open the dresses and explain the Dior bustiers, and they knew all about it,” Ludot recalled.
“Nowadays, people come to buy vintage because it’s fashionable,” he continued. “They wear Uggs to try on a couture dress.”
Ludot, as anyone who has visited the store can attest, is a walking encyclopedia of French post-war fashion, and was fortunate to hobnob with industry luminaries like Azzedine Alaïa, Gianfranco Ferré, Karl Lagerfeld and Hubert de Givenchy, to name just a few.
“The women who buy now, especially young people, have no fashion culture. They don’t know who Jean Dessès is,” he lamented.
“Someone will call me and ask if I have vintage Balenciaga and I’ll say yes, thinking they’re referring to Cristóbal, the couturier. But in fact, they’re looking for a sweatshirt with Balenciaga written on the back, so it’s a bit of a letdown,” Ludot said.
Christian Dior “Coquine” dress from the fall 1959 collection.
Courtesy of Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr
Fortunately for collectors and fashion museums, he’s hung on to some designs ever since he started snapping up the wardrobes of women like socialites Francine Weisweiller and Maxime de la Falaise, who had a hoard of Schiaparelli from when she worked for the house.
“This is not his first sale, but it is the last, so it will no longer be possible after this sale to acquire pieces from Didier’s collection,” said Hubert Felbacq, director of fashion and accessories at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr.
Felbacq noted there are 75 items by Yves Saint Laurent, Ludot’s fetish designer, including 20 prototypes straight off the runway, which have tags inside them specifying the atelier that made the outfit and the model who wore it.
“The sale includes haute couture masterpieces as well as pieces that a lot of people can buy, with attractive estimates,” he said.
Among the lots are 35 outfits from the wardrobe of Sarah Wolf, a longtime U.S. client who decided to clear out her closet now that Ludot is closing up shop. “We’ve become like brother and sister. We’ve known each other for 40 years,” the retailer said.
They include a Christian Dior haute couture short “Sévillane” evening dress in black Calais Chantilly lace from spring 1959 with an estimate of 4,000 euros to 6,000 euros, one of the top lots in the sale.
A suit from Chanel‘s spring 1971 collection, the last designed by Gabrielle Chanel.
Courtesy of Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr
The sale also features a suit in ivory tweed and navy blue braid from the last collection designed by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. It was from the spring 1971 haute couture collection, and carries an estimate of 1,500 euros to 2,000 euros.
The accessories on offer include Hermès bags from the ‘30s to the ’80s and several pairs of Roger Vivier shoes for Christian Dior. There is also an online sale, which runs until Feb. 3.
Walking through the preview exhibition, which runs until Wednesday, Ludot pointed out items such as a Balenciaga short suit, a 1946 Madame Grès gown and the black “Coquine” cocktail dress designed by Saint Laurent for Dior in 1959, worn by model Victoire Doutreleau on the cover of her memoir.
The sale will also include an ensemble created by Jacques Fath in 1949 and originally modeled by Bettina Graziani, who saved it and later passed it on to Ludot. “Let’s hope a museum is interested,” he said.
Last year, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his store with a sale of 50 pieces from his personal archive and a window display with couturier Stéphane Rolland.
As he gets ready to retire, he’s been deluged with messages from old friends, including Hervé Pierre, the French designer and stylist who works closely with First Lady Melania Trump.
“He sent me a very sweet message. He said: ‘The Palais-Royal without you will be like Chanel on Rue Cambon without Gabrielle Chanel.’ I was very moved,” Ludot said.
A shirt on a hanger at the Didier Ludot store at the Palais-Royal in Paris.
David Bordes/Courtesy of Didier Ludot
