Pierre Cardin Is Renovating Lacoste—a Medieval French Village
He may be pushing 90, but Pierre Cardin is showing no signs of slowing down.
The designer, who recently announced plans to sell his label for $1 billion (he hopes!), is currently deep in another project: renovating a tiny medieval village in Provence.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the fashion icon has acquired more than 40 properties in Lacoste—a place he calls “the most beautiful village in France”—including the chateau that once belonged to the Marquis de Sade.
Cardin has turned these buildings into galleries, a café, a grocery store, apartments, and guest houses in an attempt to bring culture to the village, even instating an annual Lacoste Festival (complete with performances, parties, and VIPs drinking Cardin’s own label of champagne). He also unveiled plans to build a golf course to attract even more tourism—an idea violently opposed by the locals. (After a dramatic protest, Cardin agreed to cancel the golf course idea.)
"People criticize me because I do everything," Cardin told the Wall Street Journal. "I don't understand why I should limit myself to design. It's ridiculous!"
"Lacoste is an authentic place, because it hasn't been transformed by modern times," he continued. "Now I have hotels there, I have apartments, I have four châteaux. In 10 years, I've transformed the village!"
For the villagers, this isn’t a good thing. "The whole village is turning into a Cardin Museum," Yves Ronchi, head of the Association for the Harmonious Development of Lacoste, said. "There are no families, no children. The man is killing Lacoste!"
Of course, a Cardin museum doesn’t sound so bad to us …
