17.10.2024
Longchamp is celebrating the reopening of its freshly renovated flagship store in Rome with a reception held at the boutique on Thursday, October 17, 2024. In line with Longchamp’s overall creative vision, the store has been redesigned in the spirit of a typical Parisian apartment. Throughout the space, vintage furniture and unique decorative objects create a carefully curated and warm atmosphere, while the various areas, each with its own theme—such as a dressing room for the ready-to-wear collection—invite visitors to wander from room to room. This effect is further enhanced by heritage designs drawn from Longchamp’s archives and contemporary artworks from its art collection.
Taking place during the Rome International Film Festival, the reopening highlights Longchamp’s ties with art and cinema, notably through a collaboration with French artist Oscar Malessène. Longchamp already owns several works by the artist in its collection but commissioned a new piece for the occasion, titled To Love with Rome (The Great Beauty).
Cinema, like jazz and literature, is a rich source of inspiration for Oscar Malessène, whose artwork titles often reference film titles. His abstract art—marked by rigorous geometry, bold use of colors, and striking optical effects—is never a direct homage to a specific film but rather evokes a certain atmosphere infused with personal impressions and biographical reminiscences. To Love with Rome (The Great Beauty) is a nod to Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love and Paolo Sorrentino’s La grande bellezza, two cinematic portraits of the Italian capital—a suggestion reflected in the painting itself by a continuous deep green line reminiscent of Longchamp’s uninterrupted timeline. Juxtaposed with the deep green is the light green used by Longchamp to symbolize energy, set against a pale blue background and bright orange pyramids—one of the artist’s favorite motifs—conveying the dynamic and optimistic vision shared by Oscar Malessène and Longchamp.
The new commission To Love with Rome (The Great Beauty), part of Scripto Sensu, will be exhibited at the Longchamp store in Rome alongside nine other works by Oscar Malessène during the entire duration of the Rome International Film Festival from October 16 to 27, 2024. The artworks share a common theme of cinema and include the diptychs Finzi and Contini, a nod to Vittorio De Sica’s classic film The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, as well as Bleu mécanique II, referencing Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange.
Following the reception on October 17, the Longchamp store will open its doors as usual at Piazza di Spagna, 82 — a prestigious address at the foot of Rome’s iconic Spanish Steps.
To Love with Rome (The Great Beauty), Oscar MALESSÈNE – 2024
