“The fashion antique dealer” Didier Ludot in his boutique at the Palais Royal before its closing, in Paris, January 8, 2025 (AFP / Anna KURTH)
After more than 50 years selling vintage haute couture in Paris, Didier Ludot is preparing to lower the curtain on his Palais-Royal boutique and will sell his last pieces during an auction on January 30.
Established since 1974 in the heart of the capital, his store, simply named “Didier Ludot”, has established itself over the years as an essential reference in its field.
But today, the man who calls himself “the fashion antiques dealer” is retiring. “I feel a little disconnected from this environment now,” he explained during a press conference this week.
“I experienced an extraordinary period, where the women who came to the store were passionate about it. Now, we have a clientele who buys vintage because it’s fashionable but they don’t even know how to put on a high dress couture,” lamented the septuagenarian.
Haute couture pieces belonging to fashion collector Didier Ludot in his boutique at the Palais-Royal, in Paris, January 8, 2025 (AFP / Anna KURTH)
“The women who buy now, especially young people, they have no fashion culture,” he insisted.
In recent years, Didier Ludot has undertaken to resell his collection through several auctions.
– Passion Saint Laurent –
That of January 30, organized by Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr and entitled “Dernier passage”, offers 380 models from Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel, Madame Grès, Givenchy, Lanvin and even Yves Saint Laurent, a designer to whom the collector has always had a passion.
No less than 75 pieces by the designer appear in the catalog, including 20 runway prototypes, with Didier Ludot confessing to never having been able to refuse to buy a Saint Laurent outfit.
It was the couturier’s “Libération” collection in 1971, inspired by the fashion of the 1940s marked by the war, which gave him a taste for vintage.
“At that time, we were talking about ‘retro’, not ‘vintage’,” he explains.
Although the collection was criticized by the press for its references to Paris during the Occupation, it won over the public.
The young Breton, who went to Paris to study at the École supérieure des arts moderne, then scoured the Aligre market to buy dresses, crocodile bags or silver fox stoles which he resold to friends.
In 1974, at the age of 22, he bought a 6 m2 premises in the Palais-Royal district. “I couldn’t even straighten my legs,” he recalls.
He resells the Art Deco jewelry he found with his mother, before women from the neighborhood drop off their belongings with him.
“I started to wear three dresses, the crocodile bags… It became too small, so I bought a boutique next door. And then another, which became specialized in haute couture”, rewinds -he.
Fashion collector Didier Ludot poses in front of his boutique at the Palais-Royal, in Paris, January 8, 2025 (AFP / Anna KURTH)
Her boutique has become famous around the world, welcoming Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Catherine Deneuve.
Didier Ludot notably dressed Reese Witherspoon in 2006, for the Oscars ceremony during which she was crowned best actress for her role in “Walk the Line”.
“She got the Oscar thanks to the dress… and her talent,” the collector mischievously concedes.
– Everything must disappear –
This famous dress, a Dior model from 1956, is not found in the catalog of this last sale.
On the other hand, there are the “Sévillane” and “Coquine” models, two famous evening dresses by Saint Laurent for Christian Dior released in 1959, an ivory tweed suit from the last collection created by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel in 1971, a dress from evening in Jean Dessès tulle from 1952 or a strapless black Balenciaga dress from 1957.
So many models which will be exhibited from January 24 to 29 in the premises of Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.
An online sale is also planned from January 23 to February 3.
Haute couture pieces belonging to French fashion collector Didier Ludot, in his boutique at the Galeries du Palais-Royal in Paris, January 8, 2025 (AFP / Anna KURTH)
At the end, nothing should remain of this collection built up over more than half a century. Didier Ludot assures that it doesn’t bother him. “I don’t wear these dresses, I have them in my head. So they will always be mine,” he smiles.
And what’s next? “I had the chance to meet wonderful people like Azzedine Alaïa, Gianfranco Ferré, Karl Lagerfeld… Maybe it will become a book. In between, we will rest.”
