Vintage Fashion Expert Didier Ludot to Close his Shop

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Vintage Fashion Expert Didier Ludot to Close his Shop

It’s the end of an era. After more than 50 years selling vintage fashion in Paris, Didier Ludot is ready to retire. He’s shuttering his boutique on the Palais Royal- a veritable temple of fashion beloved by industry mavens and the world’s fashionistas. He’ll sell off his last pieces, haute couture that’s diligently and passionately collected, at an auction on January 30th. Think items by Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel, Madame Grès, Givenchy, Lanvin and Yves Saint Laurent. Another auction will take place online from January 23rd to February 3rd.

As reported by La Provence, Didier announced his retirement in a press conference where he also mentioned he now feels disconnected from the milieu. To quote: ” ‘I lived through an extraordinary period, where the women who came to the store were passionate about it. Now, we have a clientele who buy vintage because it is fashionable but they do not even know how to put on a haute couture dress,’ lamented the septuagenarian. ‘The women who buy now, especially the young ones, they have no fashion culture’, he insisted.”

Ludot got his start in 1974, when he bought a tiny boutique on the Palais Royal (sized at just six square meters), where he could sell the Art Deco jewelry and other finds he sourced at vintage markets with his mother. Pretty soon, the ladies of the neighborhood began to sell him their old pieces, so he needed to acquire the space next door. Over time he became a haute couture expert.

His boutique is a favorite of international movie stars like Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Catherine Deneuve. Didier Ludot famously dressed Reese Witherspoon in 2006, for the Oscars ceremony during which she was crowned best actress for her role in Walk the Line.

BP is also a big fan. We’ve highlighted Ludot’s lovely boutique in photo essays and articles over the years. In a piece about the 5 best shops for vintage shopping in Paris, Anne McCarthy writes:

A luxe and coveted spot on the Palais Royal, Didier Ludot is an epically stylish shop with luxury clothes and accessories. This internationally acclaimed store is often a go-to for fashionable visitors making their way through the City of Light. It also happens to be in the heart of Paris, and thus ideally situated for some tourist attractions or just a stroll about town.

Didier Ludot is the man behind the eponymous store, and he’s been keeping women chic and fashionable for over 45 years. The New York Times profiled him several years ago, and reports on Ludot’s beginnings and what the catalyst was for creating his infamous and widely adored shop: “Mr. Ludot was so moved in 1971 by Yves Saint Laurent’s famous 1940s-inspired collection — a shocking show at the time because it celebrated fashion of World War II, which the French still saw as a deeply dark period — that he started going to the Paris flea markets and buying simple war-era frocks, which he resold for a small profit to his girlfriends.”

Wishing Monsieur Ludot a wonderful retirement. His shop will be painfully missed…

Didier Ludot’s alluring shop window by Virginia Jones

Lead photo credit : Didier Ludot's vintage fashions by Virginia Jones

More in Didier Ludot, haute couture, Palais Royal, vintage clothes, vintage shopping, vintage shopping in Paris

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