Like all great designers, Alber Elbaz is a lover of the arts — and increasingly, a patron. And so, in conjunction with an exhibition of César Baldaccini at Luxembourg & Dayan Gallery in New York, the Lanvin designer paid tribute to the sculptor at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In the 1940s César took classes at the centuries-old classical arts academy, where he eventually became a professor.

In the grand Amphitheatre d’Honneur, a picnic dinner was served, dreamed up by chef Jean-François Piège. Among chicken confit and mini-burgers, there was, of course, Caesar salad. That was followed by a reading by French actor Emmanuel Salinger of Etgar Keter’s fictional interpretation of César’s famous series of crushed cars. Lanvin is further showcasing three works by the artist in its rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré windows.