Louvre Couture: The Museum of Inspiration and Fashion
The Museum That Inspires: Louvre Couture
Displayed across 9,000 square metres of the Decorative Arts department’s galleries, these creations span a wide range — from French houses such as Chanel, Dior, Givenchy and Hermès to international labels and designers such as Prada, Erdem, Dries Van Noten and JW Anderson. Wandering among exquisitely detailed works — furniture, tapestries, armour and clocks dating from the Middle Ages to France’s Second Empire — I felt how universal and accessible fashion is. It was like a bridge, blending past and present… Under the spell of this unusual experience, I began to explore the galleries with my admiration for craftsmanship.
Olivier Gabet, Director of the Louvre’s Department of Decorative Arts, says: “Everything at the Louvre is deeply impressive, but in a simple and elegant language. The Louvre is haute couture; it has to be perfect.”
These hallowed, interconnecting galleries — like the magnificent Napoleon III Apartments — were so splendid that I saw no display cases or screens in the exhibition. Everything was simple and elegant.
While designing a jacket for Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2019 haute couture collection, Karl Lagerfeld recreated, in Lesage embroidery, the blue-and-white pattern of an 18th-century chiffonier by the cabinetmaker Mathieu Criaerd, held in the Louvre’s collection. It is one of the finest examples of how the museum’s decorative arts meet the universal and accessible side of fashion design, and of the exchange of inspiration between garment and art object.
Contemplating the masterpieces of modern fashion and their sources of inspiration, among tapestries, bronzes and porcelain that reflect the finesse of French craftsmanship, and among nearly 100 pieces of haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories dating from 1961 to the present, I saw what an important form of artistic expression fashion is today. It was thrilling to see how deeply designers have been influenced by the decorative arts — from Byzantium to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the 17th and 18th centuries, the Empire and the Second Empire.
Gathered from the archives and collections of both long-established and newer houses, these pieces, blended with the history of decorative styles, craftsmanship and ornament, had turned the Louvre into a museum of inspiration.
Open until 21 July, the exhibition shows us how historic works of art, objects and styles have inspired 45 fashion designers and houses. Louvre Couture will be celebrated in grand style on 4 March, crowned by the Grand Dîner du Louvre, sponsored by Visa Infinite.