City of light & love & fashion

by Daina Savage

animaux de compagnie et mode • readelysian.com •

Paris, the city of light.

Opposite: A beautiful ancient stone carving statue depicting the image of a lady with her dog.

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• le printemps 2023 • l’édition pour animaux de compagnie et mode • readelysian.com

Isthere a season and a city so inextricably linked as Paris in the springtime? Celebrated in song and film, the cliche is rooted in the truth of how the city sheds its winter greys and blacks for a floral technicolor cacophony as the streets, parks, and cafes all are enlivened. In the city synonymous with romance, it’s the young infatuation of the first buds and blooms of spring that enchants visitors and residents alike. Even the first of May celebrates the heady, elegant scent of lilies of the valley, with bouquets exuberantly exchanged, perfuming the streets.

Here in the historic fashion capital of the world, (think Chanel, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, and Louis Vuitton), high fashion is on display each spring in an enthusiastic embrace of the season in all its glory. Yes, this is the city celebrated in the recent film Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris when the dream of a Dior gown is all-encompassing and awe-inspiring. Each fall, Fashion Week previews the next Spring Collection, so now’s the season to make manifest what the catwalks revealed. Whether adorned in haute couture or prêt-à-porter, a promenade down the Champs-Élysées awaits. The two kilometers of this renowned, historic thoroughfare, which runs from Place de la Concorde to the majestic Arc de Triomphe, is often described as the world’s most beautiful avenue. It is the place to see and be seen. Shopping and cafes abound, as do fashion-inspired art exhibitions like those at the Palais Galliera and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. It is a sensory delight.

As Parisian law ensures that no building in the city may be higher than six stories, the city remains on a human scale, allowing for ample sunshine as you stroll or linger over a coffee and croissant. The city’s architecture is renowned. Spared from any war damage through the centuries, iconic buildings and structures tell the city’s history through the ages, with Romanesque, Gothic, neoclassical, neo-Byzantine, and modern styles of architecture. In addition to taking in the breathtaking view from the Eiffel Tower, be sure to visit iconic buildings like the opulent Palais Garnier, the Place des Vosges, and of course, the

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The Louvre, or the Louvre Museum, is the world’s most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo

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• readelysian.com in the late 19th century. his enticing, elegant and provocative images of the sometimes decadent affairs of the colourful and theatrical life of Paris

Louvre, which is the most visited art museum in the world, home to the Mona Lisa. Nearby, find one of the most unusual art galleries in the city, a counterculture gallery/studio co-op at 59 Rivoli, where every surface, from spiral staircases to ceilings, has been painted and adorned throughout the many levels of the building. Working artists occupy these studio spaces and visitors can watch masterpieces created on-site as they climb each floor.

Hiking the flights of stairs to the Sacré Coeur Basilica offers another stunning viewscape of the city as it keeps your heart pumping and works off the morning pastries. And for a delight of another sort, the titillating Moulin Rouge district is a popular thrill. Visitors hoping to check Paris icons off their list should know that restoration work continues on the fire-damaged Notre-Dame, with scaffolding and cranes still surrounding the structure, set to reopen in 2024. Exposed like this, it’s still fascinating to observe.

Near Notre-Dame, indulge your fashion sensibilities by strolling the Boulevard Saint-Germain, which is one of the most iconic streets of Paris’ Left Bank. It’s a less crowded way to indulge in fashion-forward shops. Or if you’d rather more centralized shopping, pay a visit to the art nouveau Galerie LaFayette department store in the heart of the city, with floors filled with luxury brands. More flagship stores can be found along the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where fashionable visitors can both see and be seen.

While a well-tailored dress and bespoke shoes are de rigor, the French know it’s the accessories that truly make the outfit complete. Jewelry and leather goods of course are necessary, but in a city full of tiny apartments, Parisian pets also make an iconic mark as they stroll or are fashionably carried throughout the city to get some fresh air.

They are a celebrity favorite companion at Paris fashion shows, as guests on the laps of their famous pet parents. A newer trend is for designers to work them into the presentations themselves, as models carry them in matching outfits or walk with them down the catwalk. They are incorporated as an homage either to the beloved companion role they play, or to make a political statement about the environment or animal welfare.

Opposite: At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance, 1890, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Lautrec was a French painter, known for le printemps 2023 • l’édition pour animaux de compagnie et mode • readelysian.com in France.

Nymphe marble statue in Tuileries gardens.

Pampered pups on bespoke leashes are omnipresent at cafes, bakeries, bars, and restaurants where they are catered to with their own menus and water bowls. They may be dressed in simple shirts or accessorized with colorful bandanas, or outfitted in custom-made quilted coats or cashmere sweaters. A new trend is to dye their coats with the latest hue. Inventive grooming can make its own statement. The “couples’ fashion” of dressing in matching outfits as your pet began in Paris in the 19th century and continues to this day. As it was then, it is possible to be outfitted in similar hats, boots, handkerchiefs, and jackets.

Pocket dogs and cats ride in style in chic designer bags from Hermes, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton through department stores and office buildings. You’ll see them packed on bicycles and motorscooters, inquisitively poking out their noses to sniff the sensation of smells breezing by them. And in a city known for its perfumeries, there are even some specially made for your pooch.

Although the fussily groomed French poodle prancing on a leash led by an elegantly dressed woman may once have been a common sight, this stereotypical image of “FiFi” has given way to pets who are carried and make a statement with their containers and accouterments. Now it’s more bulldogs and chihuahuas in designer leather harnesses and leads who are accompanying the ladies who lunch. Some restaurants make it a selling point. Outdoor patios of restaurants like Au Petit Sud Ouest near the Eiffel Tower, Le Bouledogue, and Café de l’Industrie (with a pet-friendly dining area called Bring Fido) are very friendly and accommodating to dogs and their owners, allowing you to enjoy the finest French wines and delicious cuisine with your furry companion at your feet. Dog-friendly cafes like Le Bel’ Vil Café and the ice cream shop Berthillon Glacier are also welcoming places to bring a pet or simply to enjoy being in their company.

While the idea of lunching with pets in tow is ever-present, cafes devoted to housing domestic animals are also a popular sight. Cat cafes popped up in Paris a decade ago with Le Café de Chats near the Bastille. Rescued cats weave through your legs as you dine and they may be petted after you’ve washed your hands. Known as “the” cat cafe in Paris, it has inspired others like the popular Chat Mallow Café, which is home to a dozen or so friendly and personable felines who amuse and entertain diners with their playful antics. Not to be outdone, there’s even a planned dog cafe, Dog’s District, set to open soon.

The history of pampered pets is intertwined with French history. A recent exhibition on the pets of French royalty at the Palace of Versailles focused on the place and role of pets at court, from the royal family to courtiers. Ever-present pets filled and animated the royal rooms, and were a big part of the daily life of the families, all witnessed in the collection’s historical portraits. Among the sovereigns, many chose to surround themselves with their favorite animals, such as Marie Lesczńska, wife of Louis XV. Treated like family members, these “royal” pets slept on

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Germany, the Fédération Cynologique Internationale and a minority of cynologists believe it originated readelysian.com • early photo of a womens’ clothing shop, Paris, 1910.

ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

• le printemps 2023 • l’édition pour animaux de compagnie et mode • readelysian.com custom silk or velvet beds, ate gourmet meals, had their own staff of servants, and dressed in matching outfits.

Paris was famous in the 19th century as the place for canine haute couture. Wealthy aristocrats from around the world would travel to the salon of canine tailor Monsieur Vivier in the Galerie d’Orléans at the Palais Royal to ensure their beloved pups were outfitted in the most fashionable outfits. Vivier dressed toy terriers, greyhounds, and griffon dogs in impeccably tailored dog coats constructed in the same fabrics and hues used in women’s clothing. Clients would arrive from London and New York, as well as the city of Paris, to have a whole wardrobe made for each season and occasion, including elegant outfits for traveling, yachting, and relaxing at home in silks, serge, tartans, and leathers.

Animals are a familiar and much-beloved motif in French art. The palace once held celebrated interior decorations of the Menagerie, which no longer exists today, as well as the sculptures of the gardens, such as those of the Latona Fountain or the vanished Grove of the Labyrinth, which once featured more than 300 animals, gathered around a staging of Aesop’s ancient fables.

Animals are also a favorite subject of street artists. Commissioned murals and guerilla art both feature the exotic and the domestic alike. Street signs are a common place to adorn, with mini portraits of stylized cats and dogs seemingly on every corner. Larger artworks along the winding alleyways seem to fancy cheetahs and leopards.

The most famous, if not the wealthiest, Parisian pet may be Choupette, the Birman cat owned by Chanel designer Karl Lagerfield. When Lagerfield died in 2019, he left his fortune to Choupette. She has made millions herself, a reported $2.5 million in 2020, through sales of her book and licensing her image.

Alas, beloved pets are gone too soon. Paris celebrates the lives of these constant companions with elaborate decorative gravestones in the city’s historic pet cemetery. Le Cimetière des Chiens et Autres Animaux Domestique’ (cemetery for dogs and other pets) has also become the final resting place of famous exotic animals like turtles, monkeys, horses, lions, and even a shark, as well as more traditional cats and dogs.

Built in 1898, the cemetery was designed to stop people from placing their dead pets in the trash or throwing them in the river. The French government passed a law that forbade this, urging people instead to bury their pets. Other noted memorials include that of a mountain rescue dog that saved the lives of 40 people from an alpine pass in Switzerland, Napoleon’s three-legged ‘Moustache’, and the celebrity dog Rin Tin Tin, who starred in 27 silent Hollywood films before his death in 1932. Although the lavish tombstones are the stars of this site, the grand entrance is spectacular as well, an Art Nouveau archway designed by Eugènie Petit.

The French also celebrate the animal heroes of the Great War, where 11 million horses, 100,000 dogs, and 200,000 messenger pigeons were lost in service. These enlisted animals were decisive partners in combat, carrying soldiers, pulling equipment, rescuing the lost and fallen, keeping troops informed, and giving comfort in the face of the brutality of World War I. The Spielberg film War Horse based on a novel of the same name demonstrates how instrumental animals were in these efforts. The City of Paris is working on the creation of a memorial that pays homage to these animals killed in both WWI and WWII. ■

• le printemps 2023 • l’édition pour animaux de compagnie et mode • readelysian.com with Aya Suzuki and Ami Suzuki of Amiaya, photographed outside of Valentino.

Opposite: During Paris Fashion Week, colorful styles and trending designer wear can be seen off of the runways and all about the city, as friendly. MIDDLE:

Paris, the city of light, might as well be referred to as the city of fine delicacies, as the city is steeped in cafés and brasseries—many pet- le printemps 2023 • l’édition pour animaux de