When celebrities from Eva Longoria to Cara Delevingne made their glamorous arrivals at Vogue World 2024 in Paris, they walked down a blue—not red—carpet.
It was a color choice made with the utmost intent: royal blue has long been associated with both Paris and the Place Vendôme itself. In 1898, César and Marie-Louise Ritz began decorating their soon-to-open hotel, the Ritz Paris, at 15 Place Vendôme. They heard a story that King Louis XV, who ruled France from 1715 until 1774, used to play there. His favorite thing to do? Stand on the balcony and watch the soldiers in their royal blue uniforms parade through the square.
So they decided that very hue would serve as the starting point for their interiors. They used it on everything from the curtains, to the upholstery, to the carpet—which over a century later, still remains. In fact, so synonymous is the shade with the iconic hotel that it is often called “Ritz Blue.”
“They deliberately chose to take inspiration from the history of the Place Vendôme for everything that would define the style of the Ritz Paris,” Ritz Paris director of communications Mélanie Hubert says.
So, Vogue and event production company Bureau Betak decided to take their cues from the Ritzes and create their own “Ritz blue” moment as well. The red—or should we say blue—carpet, which rolls out from the hotel and into the Place Vendôme, is not only an aesthetic bridge but a historical one: Vogue World, which visually explores a century’s worth of French fashion and sport, is the first fashion show ever to be held at an address that once housed Gabrielle Chanel’s Paris apartment and Schiaparelli’s atelier. And just as the soldiers’ fashion inspired the Ritzes a century ago, perhaps the clothes in Vogue World will provide their own form of inspiration today.
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