VISIT – Atelier E.B: Passer-by at Lafayette Anticipations

On Wednesday February 27th, MAFS students from two different classes visited the exhibition Atelier E.B: Passer-by at Lafayette Anticipations. Atelier E.B is a fashion label created by the designer Beca Lipscombe and the artist Lucy McKenzie. Instead of following traditional fashion industry practices, the duo shows their collections at their own exhibitions. They started collaborating in 2007, but it was only in 2011 that they established themselves as a fashion label. Indeed, they use fashion as an excuse to explore a diverse range of art practices.

Atelier E.B: Passer-by is their first big exhibition in Paris. In it, Lipscombe and McKenzie bring together art, fashion and commerce. They explore the history of the mannequin and window display, showcasing Atelier E.B’s newest collection, and featuring contemporary art at the same time. For instance, the ground floor of the exhibition contains historical documents and older art pieces, ranging from the 1930s to the 1990s, and the second floor mixes contemporary art with the clothing by Atelier E.B. The title of the exhibition also alludes to the visitors’ status as both consumers and observers; they are passers, as the title suggests, looking into the shop window, but they are also in a shop so that they can buy what they are looking at in the exhibition.

Students in the Fashion, Memory and Heritage class, taught by Antoine Bucher, were able to explore the heritage aspects of the exhibition, such as the handrail of the Galeries Lafayette Art Nouveau staircase from 1912. Students in Curating Fashion, a class taught by Laurent Cotta, curator from Palais Galliera, learned about curatorial techniques firsthand, and were even able to discuss these ideas with Lipscombe and McKenzie themselves.