Charles Frederick Worth: The Inventor of Haute Couture
To know that in Worth’s day a woman changed her clothes several times between morning and night is one thing; to see, in glass cases arranged along a long gallery, that those changes were made with extraordinary evening gowns with cascading, many-layered trains, lace tea gowns and dramatic opera cloaks, was breathtaking. Two centuries after Worth’s birth, this is the first retrospective devoted to the house he founded. Every gown I saw was not only radiant: embroidery more than a century old still glittered inside the glass cases.
In the full-length photograph I came across, Worth stood before me with his well-groomed moustache, his billowing bow tie and a coat thrown over his shoulders. He wore polished shoes and held a cane. The founder of a house that became the emblem of Parisian luxury, Worth was one of the most important figures in the history of fashion. Born in England, Worth was the inventor of haute couture.
Run by the Worth family for four generations, the house was for almost a century the emblem of French elegance and savoir-faire. The retrospective brings together more than 400 works — garments, accessories, objets d’art, paintings and graphic works. Through a chronological view stretching from the Second Empire to the interwar years, it reveals how Worth’s international vision turned the label into an undisputed authority and consolidated Paris as the capital of fashion.
The first section of the exhibition tells of the house’s founding years, early successes and influence, from 1858 to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. From morning dress to opera cloaks, from tea gowns to ball gowns, it presents Worth’s singular style in silhouettes for every moment of the day. These designs were highly prized by royalty and the aristocracy. Wedding gowns, ceremonial dress, court mantles and formal evening gowns formed the house’s specialities.
The display is arranged after the layout of Worth’s 19th-century salons. Subtle shifts in the colour of the walls echo the nuances of the gowns. I am watching a page of history unfold, from the Second Empire to the Roaring Twenties. With the invention of the figure of the great couturier, the mechanisms for creating and marketing fashion that remain valid today came into being — and I am deeply moved by the world this enchanted empire created.
An artistic spirit, Worth did not merely make clothes; he worked like a painter, composing his collections almost as one would a canvas.
In June 1863, describing the Princess Metternich’s gowns at Fontainebleau, the magazine La Vie Parisienne wrote:
“When we see a fine painting, we want to know who painted it; in the same way, we wished to know the creator of these masterpieces of silk and lace. We expected the name of a dressmaker; we were given the name of an artist: an English artist, M. Worth. He is not merely a dressmaker, but an artist.”
The exhibition’s scientific curator, Marine Kisiel, says:
“This system shaped not only the image and workings of couture, but also Parisian luxury — and therefore French luxury — and its worldwide influence throughout the 20th century.”
What the exhibition shows is the invention of a world and of a system. This is why the word “inventing”, chosen for the exhibition’s title, matters so much. Offering a chronological and thematic approach to the history of haute couture, the exhibition draws visitors into an immersive experience of this legendary fashion empire, whose style — synonymous with elegance, excellence and flamboyant creativity — defined French luxury and refinement.