CHRISTIAN LACROIX at Réattu Museum
Elena Lazzarini
Christian Lacroix – Drawings, Sketches, and Graffiti
Drawing is the foundation of all of Christian Lacroix’s projects, but above all it proves to be a fundamental mode of artistic expression, present from his earliest years.
For Lacroix, drawing is not a step in the process but a language. Whether using pencil, ink, gouache, collage, or digital tools, it is a daily, spontaneous practice.
“Drawing was a kind of defensive weapon […] Very quickly, something emerged that was a cross between fashion and costume… I think I needed my life to be a theater.”
Christian Lacroix – CNCS Interview, 2025
This summer, the Réattu Museum (10 Rue du Grand Prieuré, Arles) will present an exhibition dedicated to Christian Lacroix’s drawings. It is the third time the museum has collaborated with the Arles-born designer. In 2008, the exhibition explored his haute couture work, and in 2012, the museum turned its attention to his career as a costume designer for theatre and opera.
From July 4 to October 4, the Réattu Museum will bring together an exceptional collection of previously unseen drawings. These are on loan from the “Archives Patrimoine Monsieur Christian Lacroix” association. They will be shown alongside the 69 haute couture drawings already held in the museum’s collection. This hybrid collection brings together drawings preserved since childhood, fashion sketches, and illustrations for books and magazines. Furthermore, these works reveal the themes that run through his entire body of work.
A journey from childhood to a life dedicated to creativity
The exhibition traces Lacroix’s graphic journey, from childhood drawings to sketches created for haute couture and ready-to-wear, and including his illustrations. The bull, the history of fashion, stage costumes, and more are all included.
Christian Lacroix’s drawing emerges as the matrix of a creative impulse that naturally extends into painting and ceramics. These are executed with the same incisive and spontaneous gesture. At the Réattu Museum, this exhibition offers a rare and intimate encounter with Christian Lacroix’s inner world. Line by line, a life’s work reveals itself restless, precise, and endlessly alive.
Christian Lacroix – photograph collector
In line with the exhibition dedicated to Christian Lacroix’s drawings, the Musée Réattu explores the relationship that this multifaceted creator has with photography.
Through various personal favorites and professional projects, he has built a highly cohesive photographic collection. His need to constantly enrich his own creative work with new images and forms has shaped this collection. It also shows scenes of everyday life by Véronique Ellena and Guillaume Janot. Finally, it includes the poetic approaches to fashion seen through the lens of Sarah Moon or Grégoire Alexandre.
Share this post
emotional intelligence, she approaches culture as something to be felt as much as understood, moving fluidly between fashion, music, and the subtle codes that define identity across borders. At IRK, this instinct becomes editorial language, where curiosity is not surface-level but immersive, always searching for what sits beneath aesthetics.
With a background in e-commerce, Elena developed her understanding of digital strategy within a small, human-centered company, working closely alongside neurodivergent teams. The experience shaped her approach to communication and storytelling, grounding it in inclusivity, adaptability, and attention to nuance. These values inform her work at IRK, where content is not only created, but carefully considered in how it connects, resonates, and includes.
Read Next
