Calling all textiles designers

If you are intrigued by the current exploration of pleating, folding and draping, run - do not walk - to see the Valentino exhibit at the Musee des Arts & Decoratifs, a department of the Louvre.

No one has exploited, mastered and exhausted plissee and folding more brilliantly and creatively than this celebrated couturier whose retrospective of a career spanning more than half century is on view here. From intricately pleated flower patterns to the use of pleating to create linear effects, this exhibition demonstrates a dedication and commitment to detail and designing beautiful clothes for beautiful women is unparalleled.
 
In other cultural venues, Paris is holding its breath for the opening of the 52nd Biennale des Antiquaires, the Antique Dealers Show, which follows on the heels of Maison & Objet with a gala dinner September 9 and officially opens September 11 under the glass dome of the Grand Palais.

It runs through September 21. It remains the rendezvous where art and antiques dealers and collectors converge to exchange some of the rarest and most expensive arts and antiques.

The hunt is already on in the antique district, known as the Carre Saint Germain — bordered loosely by the Seine River, the Rue du Bac in the East and the Rue Saint Pere on the West side of the quarter – where the most prestigious Parisian dealers offer exceptional works in their home galleries.

For less padded wallets, a weekend tie-in featuring 220 dealers takes place at Marche Brion, a section of the famous Paris Flea Market, the Marche Aux Puces. However, anyone who has ever combed these markets for bargains will attest that they are far and few between.