Music Moment
Galeries Lafayette is tuning into the music scene with concerts, workshops and a talent prize, adding a new dimension to its drive to reach young audiences.
DJ Pedro Winter, whose Ed Banger Records label represents acts such as Justice and Cassius, is spearheading the “Music Machines” festival, which is set to kick off on Wednesday with a series of concerts and will last until June 24.
The electronic music compos- er and producer, whose label is celebrating its 15th anniversary, has curated everything from the store windows to the soundtrack. The store will feature giant speakers, a wall with golden records and window displays filled with instruments.
Among the key draws is the Music Factory, located in the first-floor Galeries des Galeries exhibition space, where visitors will be able to listen to more than 2,000 records belonging to the late DJ Mehdi, by acts ranging from Public Enemy to Crosby, Stills & Nash.
“It's a very personal and deep project. we count on all of you to help respect this place and make sure the records will be safe and handled with care and love,” Winter said on his Instagram page.
Guillaume Houzé, director of image and patronage at Galeries Lafayette Group, said the retailer was also launching a new music prize with Les Inrocks Lab, a program organized by the French cultural magazine of the same name, covering a range of styles including pop, electro, rap, rock and folk music.
Pop-up stores will be organized around the theme, with Paco Rabanne offering sequined pants and metallic mesh bandanas; Études selling T-shirts in a setup designed to emulate concert merchandising stands, and Byredo presenting its collaboration with Off-White, a fragrance called “Elevator Music.”
Challenged by the rise of e-commerce, department stores are under pressure to develop inventive ways to pull people into their stores. Cross-town rival, the upscale Le Bon Marché, last week invited a crowd of more than a thousand people for an after-hours fashion show involving the Belgian musician Stromae and the transformation of the store into a fantasy factory. — MIMOSA SPENCER