Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris celebrates the 30th anniversary of its fashion collection displaying three hundred years of fashion in its new exhibition, on show through the 14th August 2016.

Consisting of three hundred pieces of menswear, womenswear, childrenswear and jewels meticulously selected from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs’ s collection, which counts more than 150,000 pieces, the exhibition “Fashion Forward, Three Centuries of Fashion” has set the occasion for the Museum to conceive an ideal museum of fashion.

Mariano Fortuny’s “Delphos” dress, on the left, and two creations by Charles Frederick Worth on the right, on show in “Fashion Forward, Three Hundred Years of Fashion”, at Les Arts Décoratifs. Photo by Alessandra Arezzi Boza, CC-BY-SA.

The garments on display range from richly embroidered suits from the late 18th century to a Comme des Garçons’ S/S 2015 deconstructed robe till an H&M latest S/S 2016 special edition outfit, passing through the 19th century crinolines and the game changing creations of the 20th century couturiers of the likes of Paul Poiret, Madeleine Vionnet and Cristòbal Balenciaga. It offers a chronological overview of the history of fashion, including some of its most emblematic pieces.

An embroidered Kimono by Babani, on show in “Fashion Forward, Three Centuries of Fashion”, at Les Arts Décoratifs. Photo by Alessandra Arezzi Boza, CC-BY-SA.

Displayed for the first time in the Nave of the museum, outside their restrictive cases, the objects are set in dialogue with the other departments dedicated to decorative arts, re-creating through glimpses and ellipses the “fashion moments” and contextualizing these creations in their historical and social period. Moreover, Musée des Arts Décoratifs entrusted to the British dancer and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, who transformed every stage of the exhibition into a word itself, together with the help of the scenographer Jérôme Kaplan assisted by Isabelle Vartan. Exploring in this way the indissoluble connection between fashion and body, the Museum also collaborated with the dancers of the Opéra de Paris, whose choreography enlightens how silhouette, body and posture evolved along with fashion.

An overwiew on the 20th century fashion, including iconic pieces from the 1980s, on show in “Fashion Forward, Three Centuries of Fashion”, at Les Arts Décoratifs. Photo by Alessandra Arezzi Boza, CC-BY-SA.

Musée des Arts Décoratifs fashion collection, browsable through Europeana Fashion portal, ranges from ancient textiles to haute couture creations and iconic ready-to-wear silhouettes, including not only accessories, but also photographs and designers’ sketches and archives, like Elsa Schiaparelli’s Madeleine Vionnet’s and Cristobal Balenciaga’s ones. Such an extensive collection is the result of the blend of the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, started on 1864, and that of the Union Française des Arts du Costume (UFAC), founded in 1948 and currently presided by Pierre Bergé, which is preserved by the Museum.

The exhibition “Fashion Forward, Three Centuries of Fashion” is on show at Musée des Arts Décoratifs through the 14th of August. For more information, please visit Les Arts Décoratifs. Browse the digital collection of the museum on Europeana Fashion!