Les Arcades des Champs-Elysées’ origin
The Arcades des Champs-Élysées is a luxury shopping mall.
It is located on the ground floor of an elegant building connecting No.76 to No.78 Avenue des Champs-Elysées to the Rue de Ponthieu.
The diamond merchant and real estate magnate Léonard Rosenthal acquired a private mansion, the Hôtel Dufayel, in the mid-1920s and commissioned architects Charles Lefèbvre, Julien Marcel, and Louis Duhayon to demolish the private mansion to erect the current building.
The Hôtel Dufayel belonged to Georges Dufayel, the founder of the Grands Magasins Dufayel, a department store specialising in furniture and located at the foot of Montmartre.
Arcades des Champs-Elysées’ decorative scheme
The Arcades des Champs-Élysées is 120 metres long and 15 metres wide. Its decor harmoniously blends Art Deco and Neoclassical influences. Several ornamental elements, such as eight magnificent grey Scottish granite columns, were salvaged from the Hôtel Dufayel and reused. Additional columns, in red granite, were added to highlight the beige and black marble walls.
The meticulous attention to detail in the arcade’s decoration is also evident in the smallest details. For example, the renowned master blacksmith René Gobert created superb ironwork, while the arcade’s glass roof, emblematic of 19th-century Parisian covered arcades, is the work of master glassmaker Fernand Jacopozzi. The light fixtures and lampshades were designed by none other than René Lalique! Two fountains, formerly located in the gallery and also created by Lalique, have unfortunately found new owners: one in Tokyo and the other in the United States.
The Arcades des Champs-Élysées was inaugurated on October 1, 1926, and was an exclusive space dedicated to luxury retail. A traditional and elegant Parisian café, with its terrace and bandstand, occupied the centre of the gallery, nestled among high-end boutiques spread over two floors. While the luxury boutiques still thrive there, the café has since been replaced by a more modern establishment.
Arcades des Champs-Elysées also known as Arcades du Lido
The Arcades des Champs-Élysées are also referred to the Arcades du Lido as from 1928 to 1933, it housed Le Lido, a luxurious spa with Venetian-inspired decor, evoking the famous Italian seaside resort.
This beauty institute offered a full range of services, including hairdressing, massages, saunas, showers, and a sumptuous 4,400-square-metre heated swimming pool in the basement. However, despite its initial success, Le Lido closed its doors in 1933.
Three years later, show producer Léon Volterra acquired the establisment and transformed the swimming pool into an auditorium for dinner shows. In 1946, brothers Joseph and Louis Clerico took over Le Lido and transformed it into a vibrant cabaret and burlesque venue. Renowned for its exotic shows featuring singers, artists from all backgrounds, and dancers, including the iconic Bluebell Girls, the Lido experienced remarkable growth under its direction. However, in 1977, the establishment moved to more spacious premises at No.116 Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
Opening hours: Everyday – 7.30am to 11.30pm
Directions: 8th district – nos76-78 Avenue des Champs-Élysées – no59 rue de Ponthieu
Metro: George V, Franklin-Roosevelt on Line 1
Coordinates: Lat 48.870960 – Long 2.304452
