Avenue Montaigne

Avenue Montaigne (French: [avəny mɔ̃tɛɲ]) is a street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France

This article is about the Parisian street. For the 2006 French film, see Avenue Montaigne (film).
Avenue Montaigne
Shown within Paris
Length615 m (2,018 ft)
Width33 m (108 ft)
Arrondissement8th
QuarterChamps Élysées.
Coordinates48°52′00″N 2°18′22″E
From7 Place de l'Alma
To3 rond-point des Champs Élysées
Construction
Completionbefore 1672
DenominationJuly 13, 1850
Avenue Montaigne

Name origin

Avenue Montaigne was originally called the allée des Veuves (widows' alley) because women in mourning gathered there, but the street has changed much since those days of the early 18th century. The current name comes from Michel de Montaigne, a writer of the French Renaissance. In the nineteenth century, the street earned some renown for its sparkling and colourful Bal Mabille (Mabille Gardens) on Saturday nights.

Fashion

Avenue Montaigne boasts numerous stores specialising in high fashion, such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Fendi, Valentino and Ralph Lauren, as well as jewellers like Bulgari and other upscale establishments such as the Plaza Athénée hotel.

By the 1980s, the avenue Montaigne was considered to be la grande dame of French streets for high fashion and accessories, and is now considered more important than rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré. Several established clothing designers set up here, particularly the LVMH (Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton) group. LVMH brought investment and international attention to the street, and its stable of top designers and firms, such as Céline, Louis Vuitton, Inès de la Fressange and formerly Christian Lacroix, own a substantial portfolio of the street's real estate.

In 2009, the Comité Montaigne presided over by Jean-Claude Cathalan[1] has launched a website[2] with an interactive map.

Other uses

Monument

At 15, avenue Montaigne stands the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

History

Paris 1855

The pavilion for the arts display of the Exposition Universelle (1855) was on Avenue Montaigne.[3]

Paris 1913

In 1913, Avenue Montaigne got both the Theatre des Champs Elysees and the Plazza Athenee hotel which created its fame.[4]

Jewellery robberies

On 4 December 2008 the Harry Winston boutique at No 29 was robbed of more than €80 million (about US$100 million) worth of "diamond rings, necklaces and luxury watches" by a "gang of three or four" armed men just before closing. At least two of the thieves were men wearing "wigs and women's clothes."It had also been robbed in October 2007, when a similar heist netted the robbers about €20 million.

References
  1. Jean-Claude Cathalan : « Une démarche très systématique », in L'Anti-Crise, Jean-Pierre Thiollet and Marie-Françoise Guignard, Dunod, Paris, 1994, pp.26-28
  2. http://www.avenuemontaigneguide.com
  3. Ratcliffe, Barrie M, "Paris 1855", in Findling, John E; Pelle, Kimberley D (eds.), Encyclopedia of World's Fairs and Expositions, McFarland & Company, Inc, p. 23, ISBN 978-0-7864-3416-9
  4. "Avenue Montaigne". Paris Digest. 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
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