The first time I heard about the Ballet Russe’s Le Train Bleu my jaw dropped. Named after a speed train, which carried rich Londoners to the French Riviera, the ballet was based on a Cocteau story, featured costumes by Chanel and a backdrop painted by Pablo Picasso. The surviving photos show dancers flirting in the sun, pantomiming swimming and tennis movements and wearing boldly striped wool jerseys, which were becoming a signature of Chanel’s designs—she got the idea from her then boyfriend, the Prince of Wales.
At that time the French Riviera was an art incubator (maybe it was all that absinthe?). Picasso and Matisse painted it. Hemingway and Agatha Christy wrote about it, while Segovia and Satie supplied the soundtrack.
A creative and carefree style of dress arose. The quintessential outfit included a pair of fisherman's trousers, cut off and cinched in with a piece of rope, espadrilles (obligatory), and an old sweater worn with a pearl necklace (fake — as Chanel herself wore). Is it just me, or does that still sound like the end in cool?
And the era of Le Train Bleu wasn't just a creative time. It was a time when art and commerce mixed it up. In those days Dali was trying his hand at fashion (he designed a lamb chop hat for the house of Schiaparelli) and Colette was peddling cosmetics to Frenchwomen alongside her novels.
In this same creative spirit Le Train Bleu marries art and commerce and takes the same care in creating a beautiful online destination as that secret, sumptuous alleyway boutique that you’ve searched for all your life. Featuring the best boutique and cult brands from around the world Le Train Bleu was created for the person who values fashion as an art form and loves to hear the words "Where did you GET that?" Whether or not you choose to tell, is your choice.
Thank you so much for visiting us!
Le Train Bleu