The Arts Décoratifs fashion collection now comprises more than 150,000 works, ranging from ancient textiles to haute couture creations and emblematic silhouettes of ready-to-wear fashion, but also including accessories, major collections of drawings and photographs, and the archives of iconic creators such as Elsa Schiaparelli, Madeleine Vionnet and Cristobal Balenciaga. Now France’s foremost national collection, it is the result of the amalgamation of two admirable collections, that of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs since its creation in 1864, and that of the Union Française des Arts du Costume (UFAC), founded in 1948 and currently presided by Pierre Bergé, of which the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is the proud custodian.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Musée des Arts de la Mode, founded in 1986 on the initiative of Pierre Bergé and the French textile industry with the support of Jack Lang, then culture minister, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is paying tribute to this collective adventure and great ‟fashion moment”. The ‟Fashion Forward, Three Centuries of Fashion” exhibition, casts a new spotlight on one of the richest collections in the world, freed from its display cases in the Fashion galleries to be shown for the first time in the museum’s Nave.
The three hundred pieces, selected from a collection constantly enriched by donations and acquisitions, take us on a journey through time, highlighting the key moments in fashion history from the very late 17th century to the most contemporary creation. Freeing itself from the dictates of the conservation of works and the stringent conditions of their display, the exhibition is conceived as an ideal museum of fashion, featuring the finest examples of three centuries of creation habitually illustrated in reference books. It also provides a fascinating new insight into fashion’s evolution via its designers, clients and periods, because now more than ever at Les Arts Décoratifs, fashion is treated as an artistic field that has wide-ranging echoes in the museum’s other collections. Fashion is a history of evolving techniques, materials and designs but also a history of changing times and attitudes, a reflection of the art of living. Fashion is even more fascinating when it is not self-generating but dialogues with the arts of its time, as did great figures of Couture such as Charles-Frederick Worth, Jacques Doucet, Paul Poiret, Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet, Gabrielle Chanel, Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.
In a completely novel manner, the exhibition recreates each of these ‟fashion moments” in its human, artistic and social context, not didactically but via ellipses illustrating fashion’s constant elective affinities with the decorative arts. Eighteenth-century wood paneling, scenic wallpapers by Zuber, Paul Iribe’s drawings for the ‟Robes de Paul Poiret”, and the straw marquetry doors created by Jean-Michel Frank for the writer François Mauriac, provide perfect settings for fashion’s stylistic expressions and the metamorphoses of the body and style from the 18th century. The exhibition culminates in the effervescence and singular eclecticism of the global contemporary fashion scene, in which the names of the most original creators are now associated with the most ancient fashion houses.
Because the entire history of fashion is also a history of the body and style, the exhibition’s artistic direction was entrusted to the British dancer and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, formerly one of the stars of the New York City Ballet and winner of a Tony award for his stage adaptation of An American in Paris in 2014, based on the film by Vicente Minelli. In collaboration with the scenographer Jérôme Kaplan and assisted by Isabelle Vartan, Christopher Wheeldon has succeeded in giving the collection a sensual, poetic dimension, breathing new life into these illustrious creations by transforming every stage of the exhibition into a world in itself. Each of these moments is enhanced by a unique collaboration with the dancers of the Opéra de Paris, in which a choreography gracefully casts new light on a silhouette, posture or attitude characteristic of this social and artistic evolution of the body.
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André Courrèges, trouser ensemble, Haute couture spring-summer 1965 Wool and cotton twill. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Attributed to Jacques Doucet, jacket belonging to Cléo de Mérode, 1898-1900 Silk velvet © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Azzedine Alaïa, hooded sheath dress, autumn-winter 1986 Moiré acetate jersey. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Callot Soeurs, evening dress, 1909-1913 Silk satin metallic tulle and silk tulle. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Charles Frederick Worth, evening gown, around 1885 Silk figured satin and tulle. Collection Mode et Textile © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Christian Dior, evening dress “May”, Haute couture, spring-summer 1953 Embroidered silk organza by Rébé. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Cristobal Balenciaga, evening ensemble, Haute couture, automne-hiver 1961 Bulle de Marescot lace. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Elsa Schiaparelli, evening cape “Phoebus”, Haute couture winter 1938 Wool, silk velvet, embroideries by Lesage. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Monkey’s suit, 1730-1750 Silk taffeta. Collection Mode et Textile © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Hussein Chalayan, dress, spring-summer 2000 Silk faille, cotton linen and synthetic tulle. Collection Mode et Textile © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Jeanne Lanvin, evening hooded cape, Haute couture summer 1923 Topstitched silver lam. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Suit, 1730-1740 Frisé, sel-patterned, brocaded, figured velvet. Collection Musée du Louvre © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, evening dress, Haute couture spring-summer 1996 Tulle and Buche silk organza embroidered by Lesage © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
icolas Ghesquiere for Louis Vuitton, Ensemble, spring-summer 2015 Painted leather,printed twill. Collection Mode et Textile © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Madeleine Vionnet, evening dress, Haute couture winter 1935 Silk crêpe. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
John Galliano for Maison Margiela, dress-coat, Haute couture spring-summer 2015 Wool © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Dress and Petticoat (robe à la française), around 1740 Silk damask satin ground silk brocaded and filé. Collections UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Dress and Petticoat (robe à la française), around 1760 Silk taffeta. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Dress (robe à l’anglaise), 1780-1785 Striped silk taffeta. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Two-piece gown, 1868-1872 Cotton organdy. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Court dress, around 1778 Silk figured pékin, silk taffeta and satin. Collection Mode et Textile © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Dolman-mantle, 1870-1890 Cashmere, silk fringe, braid and beads. Collection UFAC © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Yves Saint Laurent, evening dress “Picasso”, Haute couture autumn-winter 1979 Moiré silk Taroni faille and silk satin printed by Brossin de Méré. Collection Mode et Textile © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance -
Comme des Garçons, Robe, printemps-été 2015 Collection Mode et Textile © MAD, Paris / photo : Jean Tholance