The Grand Trianon and the musee Galliera, the Fashion museum of the City of Paris, display, in a poetic conversation costumes from the 18th century and masterpieces of haute couture and fashion design from the 20th and 21th centuries.
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| Maison Martin Margiela spring-summer 1991 |
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| Pierre Balmain spring-summer 1954 |
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| Rochas par/by Olivier Theyskens, 2006 |
The 18th century with its floating dresses, its voluminous skirts, flounces and furbelows, its silhouettes of minor marquis in three-piece suits and its immense hairstyles have never ceased to inspire the world oh haute coutury. The Englightenment, the age of French Europe according to the famous saying, continues to fascinate. The political and cultural prestige of France was at its highest, when wit, lightness and elegance metamorphosed into a veritable art of fine living. Since 1800, fashion has continued to refer back to the 18th century for both women's and men's clothing as well as for its textiles and accessories.
Like mirrors reflecting each other, the garments on display, from haute couture to ready-to-wear, suggest a modern reading of that fanciful century. Each designer adapts the period to his or her sensibility. Some quote the 18th century shapes almost literally, while others deconstruct them, expand their demensions and interpret them, expand their dimensions and interpret them in a riot of shimmering silks, embroidery and lace. The dresses of the queens and princesses of the Enlightenment echo down the years with these masterpieces of luxury and creativity.
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| Yohji Yamamoto, ready-to-wear spring-summer 2011 |
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Yohji Yamamoto, ready-to-wear spring-summer 2011
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| Azzedine Alaia, ready-to-wear spring-summer 1992 |
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| Christian Dior, fall-winter 2004-2005 |
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| Chanel, spring-summer 2005 |
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| Thierry Mugler, fall-winter 1997-1998 |
