Photo below: Cover of the centennial edition of Petit Larousse Dictionary as illustrated by Christian Lacroix
Photos courtesy of Christian Lacroix

DALLAS, Aug 12, 2004/ FW/ --- The design talent of Christian Lacroix has no boundaries, as his latest project with Larousse publishing demonstrates. Creating the cover and letters of the centenary edition of the Petit Larousse Dictionary, the fashion world saw another side of the famed designer – an illustrator and sketcher.

"I was surprised when I was asked to illustrate the cover and the lettering of the Petit Larousse dictionary...Why me? But it's the kind of project you can't refuse. Rather like the Legion of Honor!” Christian Lacroix said, commenting on his work on Petit Larousse.

He then related that his interest in the history of costume started with Petit Larousse, and how the illustrative plates were a source of fascination for him.

“I think that the Petit Larousse has had a lot to do with my vocation,” he added.

Founded in 1852, Larousse is one of the largest non-fiction book publishers in France printing and distributing dictionaries both monolingual and bilingual, encyclopedias, books on history, all major art forms, wines, gastronomy, astronomy, gardening as well as books for children and young adults.

The first Petit Larousse dictionary was published on July 29, 2005. An illustrated dictionary, it has become a reference book and an inexhaustible source of discoveries for both children and adults. Due to its simplicity in presentation and reliability, it has become one of the most popular dictionaries in France with almost every family in the nation owning a copy.

For the cover of the centenary edition of the Illustrated Petit Larousse, Christian Lacroix has imagined a new interpretation of its emblematic seed-sower that is modern, witty and wonderfully colorful.

All of the ornamental head letters have been reinvented by Christian Lacroix with an alphabetical theme for the common nouns and major world cities for the proper nouns: “slightly surrealistic, somewhere between short comedy, folk tales and charades for the common nouns or an allegorical recomposition of French-speaking or Francophile towns, somewhere between poetic fantasy and contemporary reality, for the proper nouns.” The book, which became available in bookstores last July, right after Christian Lacroix presented a stunning haute couture collection is another feather in the cap of the French designer who is known for the dreamlike qualities of his designs.

Those who will own a copy of the 2005 edition of Petite Larousse will also hold a work of art by an acknowledged design genius of the fashion world.

They will also be treated with 450 new entries, more than 200 new drawings, 100 new photographs, 14 new illustrated boards and 2 new books equipped by Christian Lacroix who transformed this essential tool of knowledge into an exceptional leading event. And for “new words” buffs, the illustrated dictionary now lists high-tech words such as “Wire Fire” and “Wi-Fi.” It even includes “hub” and “Linux.”

The dictionary also allows from now, on D ' "encrypter" data and to qualify an icon of "cliquable" on a screen "with plasma". It integrates also the "interactive" adjective in the context of interactive television and the expression "raw data-processing".

Mady Vinciguerra, leading director of Petit Larousse explained in a statement that the “principal criterion of selection of the words is their use.”

"Each year, of the advisers of all the disciplines propose lists of words to us. We check that these words are frequently used in the media, the novels and the everyday life. If such is the case, they are integrated into the dictionary. New technologies and sciences in general are the fields where we record the most contribution these last years," Mady Vinciguerra commented in the same statement.

Petit Larousse also tracks the evolution and direction of the words. Thus, "the computer" in 1905 was "a person who lays out in a certain order”. In 2005, "the computer" became an "automatic machine of data processing (...)".

The last edition of the dictionary thus records new directions for "misadventure", included/understood like a virtual character, and "to export", for the file transfer.

Of course, the evolution of the dictionary is not limited to data processing. It will be necessary from now on to be accustomed to the verb "kiffer" (or kifer), synonymous to “like and appreciate.”