For the reopening of the Grand Palais in Paris in June 2025, following a major restoration project supported by CHANEL, its longstanding and exclusive patron, le19M, CHANEL’s centre dedicated to the Métiers d’art, is collaborating with the emblematic monument to unveil a large-scale work of art. An extraordinary ornamental curtain, designed as a symbolic interface between the Nave and the central square of the building.
This spectacular piece, measuring 8 metres high and 15 metres wide, will unfurl in front of the central Venetian window, punctuating the interior perspective of the monument.
A veritable laboratory of excellence in fashion and decoration, le19M has brought together the expertise of all its resident Maisons d’art—– Atelier Montex, Lesage, Goossens, Lemarié and l'Atelier de Plissé Lognon, Massaro, Maison Michel, Paloma and Studio MTX—to create this collective piece.
For the first time, these exceptional crafts are being presented in a monumental architectural setting, opening up a new field of expression. Within this sculptural artefact, interplays of materials and shapes lead to superpositions and recompostions, creating a new dialogue between cutting-edge technology and creativity.
the Project
The curtain’s colour palette is directly inspired by the monument’s architecture. Around the reseda green—the emblematic hue of its metal structure—subtle gradations stretch out, from white to deep blue, evoking a moving horizon.
Orchestrated by Studio MTX, the design studio and production workshop specialising in architectural embroidery, this ornamental textile work is composed of nine mobile panels delicately suspended from the joists of the Grand Palais, thereby adapting to its architecture. The opening system, deliberately manual, evokes stage traditions, in a simple gesture that respects the object.
Verticality is at the core of this monumental work, which fills the space like a shower of suspended light. Clothed in a multitude of vertical rectangles—a mise en abyme evoking both the spectacular height of the Nave and the diffuse light of its glass roof—it acts as a natural invitation to look up at its glass and steel sky. Each of the Maisons has used its emblematic expertise to create a unique, sensory variation on this motif of descending lines.
In the lower section of the curtain, at eye level, the Maisons have created ornamental strips—70 in total—sewn onto the fabric, providing their interpretation of this shower of light. Artful embroidery, pleats and smocks, goldsmithing techniques, feather marquetry... these techniques respond to and complement each other in order to create a new artistic vocabulary. A choreography of materials and gestures that reveals the diversity and excellence of the skills brought together by le19M in a subtle alliance of tradition and innovation.
the Savoir-faire of Maisons d'arts
The result of more than 900 hours of design and 720 hours of meticulous work, this exceptional curtain is a tribute to the virtuosity of the Maisons d’art. Even when open, the curtain reveals side panels, like a delicate echo of the craftsmen’s gestures
Atelier Montex
Founded in 1949, the embroidery house Atelier Montex has created embroideries punctuated by geometric motifs on suede fabric.
These precious constellations, created through needlework with glass tubes lifted by beads, bring about a play of reliefs in shades of green embellished with gold.
Goossens
The craftsmen at Goossens, a master goldsmith since 1950, have fashioned cherry blossoms in gilded brass—hammered and textured—which becomes almost evanescent, as if passing through rain.
Each piece is unique, with different effects and chiselling, on the border between art and goldsmithing.
Lesage
An embroidery institution par excellence since 1924, Maison Lesage has created a cotton tweed, with green threads illuminated by flashes of white and gold, which appears to be devoured by an embroidery made using Lunéville crochet.
The work is dotted with resin flowers and gold beads, foliage of beads and sequins, and elevated by drops of crystal.
Lemarié
Lemarié, founded in 1880, is renowned for its historic expertise in featherwork. The delicate marquetry of feathers forms a geometric and sculptural constellation.
The pleating specialist Ateliers Lognon, which joined Lemarié in 2013, reveals a second piece: an accordion pleat made from muslin, using an artisanal technique carried out in perfect synchronicity by aduo of pleaters.
Maison Michel
Since 1936, Maison Michel has cultivated exceptional craftsmanship in the creation of hats and head accessories.
Maison Michel assembling and superimposing several materials in a subtle collage: felt, grosgrain, and raffia, demonstrating its expertise in hatmaking and millinery, and its straw savoir-faire.
Massaro
Setting the standard in bespoke shoes since 1894, Massaro drew its inspiration from the “floral tips” typical of English brogues (the floral motifs on the front of this iconic model) to create strips of pinked leather, hand-stitched with waxed linen thread, then dyed on the edges.
Paloma
Paloma has specialised in flou and grand flou tailoring since 1982, using two smocking techniques, a precise savoir-faire upheld by its craftsmen which combines embroidery and textile finishing.
The first motif is made of regular, meticulous pleats that elevate a crêpe de Chine. The second, created on silk organza, reveals gathers assembled with delicate embroidery stitches.
Through this major project, le19M is reasserting its commitment to the transmission and promotion of excellence in craftsmanship, in a living dialogue between memory, contemporary creation, and cultural heritage. The work will be officially unveiled at the inauguration of the Grand Palais on 19 June 2025.