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The ceremony took place in the presence of Fleur Pellerin, Minister of Culture and Communication, Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, and Frank Gehry, architect of the building.

The President of the Republic visited this new venue, dedicated to contemporary art in Paris’ Bois de Boulogne, and met with artists whose works are part of the opening exhibition.

Guests were invited to attend the illumination of the building, designed by Hervé Descottes, while opera singer Nathalie Dessay, accompanied by cellist Henri Demarquette, performed Sergei Rachmaninov’s Vocalise.

Among the guests at the inauguration were designers of the LVMH group including JW Anderson, Nicolas Ghesquière, Karl Lagerfeld, Phoebe Philo, Raf Simons and Riccardo Tisci.

Following the departure of the President of the Republic, a dinner by chef étoilé Jean-Louis Nomicos, Director of the Foundation’s restaurant, Le Frank, was served to the guests in the Fondation’s Auditorium.

Rei Kawakubo's iconoclastic aesthetic and her love of black has changed the wider notion of beauty in fashion since she first founded her label over forty years ago. She is renowned for breaking traditions and pushing the limits of creativity and that is exactly what she tried to do with her design for the Celebrating Monogram commission.

Photographer Jennifer Livingston is best known for her voyeuristic and fashionable 'caught' moments. In her series of images of Rei Kawakubo's design, she uses light and shadow to emphasize the new form of the bag that has been created and the way that the traditions of design have been intentionally broken.

Discover more about the Celebrating Monogram project here.

Acclaimed as one of the most influential industrial designers of his generation, Marc Newson accepted the invitation to join the Celebrating Monogram project.  He set out to create a truly functional object; the result is this pure, sculptural backpack. “I wanted to explore the Monogram's functional qualities. If you go back to the reason why the Monogram canvas was invented, it’s because it’s durable and it’s weatherproof; but I wanted it to be fun as well—I don’t like when things take themselves too seriously.”

This double approach can easily be found in Michael Avedon’s photographic interpretation of the collaboration. A native New Yorker, photographer Michael Avedon (grandson of the late, great Richard Avedon) works primarily with black & white 35mm and medium format film; this series allows him a new maneuver to move forward with his exploratory approach.

When asked about his design for the Celebrating Monogram project, Karl Lagerfeld responded with the quote from Voltaire, "Everything which needs an explanation, isn't worth the explanation." His boxing designs for the collaboration are a playful interpretation of the Monogram with each detail and design imagined to the smallest detail.

This collaboration is captured by New York based photographer Colin Dodgson who is known for capturing the vitality of youth and fashion with frankness. His photographs of Saskia de Brauw and Karl Lagerfeld's innovative designs of the Monogram display the casual sophistication and sly humor for which he is recognized.

Commissioned by Bernard Arnault and designed by Frank Gehry, the Fondation Louis Vuitton is located in Paris, on the site of the Jardin d’Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne. The Fondation Louis Vuitton will be principally associated with artistic creation in all its forms.

For the opening of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the artistic program will unfold in three successive stages between October 2014 and July 2015. Each stage will include a temporary exhibition, a partial presentation of the collection, and a series of events.

The first stage – October to December 2014 – invites the public to a ‘voyage of creation’ essentially devoted to the discovery of the architecture of the building with:

• An exhibition on the architecture of Frank Gehry for the Fondation Louis Vuitton. This exhibition will be presented in dialogue with the first major European retrospective of the work of Frank Gehry, organized simultaneously at the Centre Pompidou.
• A presentation of several emblematic works from the permanent collection.
• A group of special commissions related to the architecture of the building including a work by Olafur Eliasson.

The auditorium of the Fondation will present several performances most particularly two musical events:

• A recital by the pianist Lang Lang on October 28th, 2014.
• A series of 8 retrospective concerts by Kraftwerk, the pioneering electronic group, from November 6 to 14, 2014.

The two following stages, opening in December 2014 and July 2015 will be announced shortly.

Practical information here : http://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en.html