The Seine closes for a day due to bad weather in Paris.
05/07/2025
Tour de France gets under way on home soil for first time in five years
France
05/07/2025
Title contenders Pogacar, Vingegaard eye Yellow Jersey
France
05/07/2025
French cognac brands sales to China fell 70%
France
05/07/2025
Seine reopens to Paris swimmers after century-long ban
France
05/07/2025
Pogacar and Vingegaard looking to repeat their victory at the Tour de France
France
05/07/2025
Riders gear up for Tour de France 2025 opener in Lille
France
05/07/2025
French police may be allowed to intercept boats offshore
France
05/07/2025
2025 Tour de France sets off in Lille, with Tadej Pogacar a firm favourite
France
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France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
The Seine closes for a day due to bad weather in Paris.
06:34 05/07/2025 Tour de France gets under way on home soil for first time in five years France 05/07/2025 Title contenders Pogacar, Vingegaard eye Yellow Jersey France 05/07/2025 French cognac brands sales to China fell 70% France 05/07/2025 Seine reopens to Paris swimmers after century-long ban France 05/07/2025 Pogacar and Vingegaard looking to repeat their victory at the Tour de France France 05/07/2025 Riders gear up for Tour de France 2025 opener in Lille France 05/07/2025 French police may be allowed to intercept boats offshore France 05/07/2025 2025 Tour de France sets off in Lille, with Tadej Pogacar a firm favourite France
France 24
10 hours ago
- France 24
'Brilliant artist': Provocateur Demna takes on slumping Gucci
The 44-year-old, who fled the war-wracked Georgian region of Abkhazia as a child and dropped his surname "Gvasalia" in 2021, will bow out with a last show for Balenciaga on Wednesday before switching to Gucci -- both firms owned by France's luxury giant Kering. "Demna's contribution to the industry, to Balenciaga, and to the group's success has been tremendous," Kering chairman and CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said at the time. "His creative power is exactly what Gucci needs." Investors were not so convinced and shares in Kering, which counts on Gucci as its main profit generator, fell around 12 percent on the day of the announcement before slumping even further. Other more established and mainstream designers from Hedi Slimane, Maria Grazia Chiuri or Pierpaolo Piccioli had been linked to the vacancy. Some analysts have questioned whether Demna's recipe for success at Balenciaga -- which leant heavily on provocative, streetwear-influenced design and showmanship -- can be replicated at the more classic Italian house. "He is iconoclast and ironic, which is good to attract attention toward a small brand like Balenciaga," Luca Solca, a luxury analyst at the Bernstein brokerage, wrote afterwards. "However, we are not sure the strategy would work as well for a bigger brand." - 'Absolutely uncompromising' - Demna's final show for Balenciaga will take place on Wednesday during Haute Couture fashion week in Paris and he will join the Italian label the very next day. During a decade at the Spanish-born but Paris-based brand, he drove sales and attention sharply higher with a mix of headline-grabbing creations as well as personal publicity -- not always positive. He achieved notoriety with his $2,000 "Ikea" bag, a luxury leather version of the 99-cent original. He followed it up with an $1,800 garbage bag -- the so-called "trash pouch" -- in a show in March 2022 that was dedicated to Ukrainian refugees. Other daring designs included a head-to-toe black shroud that US reality television star Kim Kardashian -- a personal friend -- wore to the Met Gala in 2021. A-list celebrity endorsements have been plentiful, but have not always worked out. Kanye West —- Kardashian's ex and another friend -- opened Balenciaga's show in October 2022 shortly before the first of several anti-Semitic outbursts, and the group had to cut ties with the rapper. Demna's lowest point came in February 2023 when he was forced to apologise for an ad campaign that appeared to reference child abuse and had underage models in what looked like bondage gear. He has plenty of fans among Gen Z tastemakers, however. "I've always gravitated toward Balenciaga, because I love Demna's vision," British pop sensation Charli XCX told British Vogue last year. "He feels like he's speaking his own language, which is absolutely uncompromising, and to me, that's what makes a brilliant artist." - 'Aggression and darkness' - Annual sales at Balenciaga were estimated to be $350 million when he arrived and had surged to about $2 billion in 2022, according to GQ magazine. Gucci's fortunes have headed in the other direction: they slid 23 percent last year, prompting Kering to fire creative director Sabato de Sarno after only two years in the job. Demna is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in Belgium and went on to work at Maison Margiela and Vuitton. He co-founded the label Vetements with his brother in 2014, a year before he was named to the top job at Balenciaga. For many years, his childhood trauma fleeing pro-Russian separatists in his homeland affected his work, but he told Vanity Fair in 2021 that counselling, meditation and exercise had helped exorcise some demons. "Fashion used to feel like a battle for me. That is why there was a lot of aggression and darkness in what I did. Today I feel at peace with the system," he said. © 2025 AFP
France 24
18 hours ago
- France 24
France beat England at Euro 2025 as Miedema completes Dutch century
Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore netted within three minutes of each other towards the end of the first half as Les Bleues deservedly defeated England in Zurich. Laurent Bonadei's team are level on three points with leaders the Dutch, who cruised past Wales 3-0 earlier on Saturday, after striking a big blow in the battle to qualify from possibly the hardest group at the tournament. France face underdogs Wales next on Wednesday while England have a huge clash with the Netherlands, again at the Letzigrund Stadium. The French were better all over the pitch, driven by the sparkling wing play of Baltimore and Delphine Cascarino, while Keira Walsh's lovely strike with three minutes remaining made the scoreline flatter unconvincing England. Not even Lauren James' return to the starting XI could inspire England, the Chelsea star way below her best as the Lionesses struggled to put any pressure on France until it was too late. Alessia Russo thought she had given England the lead in the 16th minute when she prodded home on the rebound after Pauline Peyraud-Magnin kept out Lauren Hemp's shot, only for the goal to be ruled out for a razor-thin offside in the build-up. From there, France took the initiative, pushing England back into their own half and dominating possession, and they had a deserved lead through Katoto in the 36th minute when the Lyon forward guided home Cascarino's low cross. And three minutes later Baltimore made the scoreline accurately represent the balance of play with a wonderful individual goal, easily skipping around Lucy Bronze and Leah Williamson before rifling her finish into the top corner. Walsh found the top corner with England's first strike on target and Sarina Wiegman's team almost snatched a point in the dying moments when Selma Bacha cleared Michelle Agyemang's shot off the line and saved the result for France. Miedema's century Vivianne Miedema scored her 100th international goal as the Netherlands swept past Wales to take the initiative in the group. Manchester City striker Miedema opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time in Lucerne with a beautiful curling strike, completing her century of goals for her country. Victoria Pelova and Esmee Brugts netted the other goals after the break to give Wales a rude awakening in their major tournament debut. "They defended really well and I'm glad my goal helped to start it all up," said Miedema. "In the second half, you saw that we can play a bit more, and eventually we also scored two really good goals." Andries Jonker's team are top on goal difference while Wales already have their work cut out to qualify. Rhian Wilkinson's side could easily have been behind before Miedema, who was a doubt for the tournament after suffering a hamstring injury in April, struck, as Jill Roord crashed a rocket of a shot off the post in the 35th minute. Pelova doubled the Oranje's lead two minutes after the break when she rifled home from Danielle van de Donk's pass, and the Arsenal midfielder set up Brugts to make absolutely sure of the points in the 57th minute with a perfect deep cross. © 2025 AFP
