The Louvre Unveils First-ever Fashion Exhibition Blending Haute Couture and Fine Art
Selections from Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and more demonstrate the glory of French craftsmanship, and sit easily among the museum's collection of tapestries, jewels, porcelain and armor
The big news from the Louvre in Paris last week was President Macron’s $700 million commitment to its renovation, in which the Mona Lisa would get her very own entrance and room. But the week before, there was another momentous event when high fashion came to the museum for the very first time. “The Louvre is not a fashion museum,” said Olivier Gabet, the curator of “Louvre Couture. Art and Fashion: Statement Pieces,” “but our vocation here is to present contemporary creation.” The museum regularly participates with leading names in painting, photography and sculpture. “So why wouldn’t we do it with fashion?” asked Gabet.
In rooms containing decorative arts from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the 18th Century, the exhibition offers up around 100 pieces including standout silhouettes and incredible accessories. Who, coming to the world’s most visited museum, would expect to see the iconic Armadillo shoe from Alexander McQueen’s 2010 Plato’s Atlantis collection? But here it is, in finest snakeskin, next to an exquisite Renaissance plate. The connection is in form and detail.
Gabet, who is the director of the department of decorative arts at the Louvre, decided not to raid the museum next door, the Museum of Decorative Arts, which holds the country’s fashion collection. Instead he requested all his loans from the couture houses themselves, as well as the Alaïa Foundation and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. There are works by John Galliano and Maria Grazia Chiuri from the House of Dior; Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld from Chanel. All demonstrate the glory of French craftsmanship, and sit easily among the tapestries, jewels, porcelain and armor that fill these rooms.
The earliest piece is a stunning black Balenciaga ballgown, by Cristobal himself, from 1961, though a more recent outfit by Demna Gvasalia (the current creative director) is also on show. And although couture sets the standard here–from Dior to Jean Paul Gualtier to Viktor and Rolf–Gabet has taken a broader view. “There’s a whole generation that’s extremely interesting–Pieter Mulier, Louise Trotter, Matthieu Blazy, Jonathan Anderson, Erdem–who are leading us towards something exciting,” says Gabet. He has included them to great effect. An outfit by Undercover in dazzling golden silk and silver satin sit comfortably besides a priceless Renaissance tapestry. The technological wizardy of an Iris van Herpen dress has, as its backdrop, a Medieval tapestry that was state-of-the-art item of its day.
The exhibition is less about comparison, though, and more a delightful dive into the virtuosity and imagination that unites the best in fashion and the most historic of decorative arts. And it’s also a lesson in luxury. At a time when we’re really wondering what that word means, this is one explanation. Unique and beautiful might just do it.
Louvre Couture. Art and Fashion: statement pieces is at Louve, Paris, until 21 July 2025
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