If you took the Parisian metro in the past few weeks, you probably came across a poster displaying a woman wearing an impressive veil and a majestic dress, all captured in a golden atmosphere. If you took a closer look, you probably realized it was an ad for an upcoming exhibition at the Grand Palais: Du Coeur à la Main, Dolce and Gabbana.
Just after I saw this poster, I sat in the subway and as a good, adopted Parisian, I scrolled on my phone with a bored look, annoyed by those tourists who were way too enthusiastic for a Monday morning at 7. During my 20-minute ride, I couldn’t help but notice fashion was taking over museums: the Louvre just announced the organization of a French MET Gala, my phone reminded me that a few months ago, I visited the exhibition Iris van Herpen. Sculpting the Senses at the MAD and a friend just suggested we visit the 19M, a conceptual gallery created at the initiative of Chanel.
Currently, no one can argue that fashion is not a trendy and very successful subject for museums. In 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Art set a new record of attendance thanks to its exhibition Heavenly Bodies. Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. With no fewer than 1.7 million visitors, the exhibition now holds the record of attendance at the MET, record previously held by The treasures of Tutankhamun, exhibited in 1978!
But why are fashion exhibitions becoming more and more popular?
The history of archives
When trying to understand why these fashion exhibitions are so praised, my research led me to their origins: the archives.
Every maison de haute couture now has its own archives of clothes, accessories or shoes created throughout the history of the house. Brands realized how important it is to have this legacy. It legitimizes the house, its history and demonstrates the evolution of fashion through the years. Furthermore, when the house underwent several changes of artistic directors, it ensures that the memory of the previous ones is safely preserved and helps maintain the DNA of the brand.
“There would be no Chanel without the history of Chanel. But there are a lot of things that people think have existed since the beginning of the house when it was me who created them. My job is to make people believe in it, there is no other way for a fashion house to survive”
Karl Lagerfeld
It also, evidently, inspires the new directors to create their own collections. In times when they must produce several collections a year, inspiration must be found somewhere. Finally, as we all know, fashion is an eternal restart. Keeping silhouettes from the 70s, 80s or 90s, allows the fashion brands to reuse the most iconic ones and to still be on point of trends. Today, if you analyze the outfit worn on red carpets, almost all of them are archives pieces.
We can probably attribute the creation of the archives system to Yves Saint Laurent himself. As early as the mid-60’s, the creator had the habit to keep sketches, samples or silhouettes. The Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent now oversees an impressive 7,000 haute couture garments and 30,000 accessories. And, if you have the chance to visit the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Paris, you could appreciate the office of Saint Laurent in a state similar to when he was working.
For other houses, this practice was not common. The accessories, samples or even worn clothing were donated to models or sold to privileged clients. It is since the 80s that Dior or Chanel really understood the importance of archives. However, when almost everything has been sold, a gigantic work of research has to be made by historians and specialist to recreate the past of the brand.
Now that the houses made the work of regathering the history of the brand, they can curate extraordinary exhibitions – which would have never existed without archives – and lend pieces to museums.
An easy storytelling: personality and transformation of fashion
When a museum is curating a new temporary exhibition, the storytelling is at the heart of the discussions. A great story helps set the scene, narrate the story of the objects and create a connection between the spectator and the show. If an institution is able to make a good story, the exhibition will most likely be a success and attract more and more visitors. I believe that fashion exhibitions are easier solutions for museums.
Creating a fashion exhibition’s storytelling is more evident as artistic directors are often well-known personalities. Think about Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, Vivienne Westwood. I bet you know them all even if you never bought a product from brands.
The aura of these artists is so strong that, just by reading the title of an exhibition containing one of these names, people can imagine what they will see, and they probably already love it. All of them have the status of artists and celebrities. From films to TV shows, from books to documentaries fashion designers are everywhere and their names are very bankable: the MET Gala 2023 was a tribute to Karl Lagerfeld! Thus, attracting people thanks to names is easily done. Then, assembling a show based on the personality, passions or inspiration and, in general, the creator’s artistic world is evident.
In times where museums, and especially classical museums like the Louvre, are challenged by the fierce competition in the cultural scene and when public subsidies are being reduced, museums have to find ways to attract people – and to make them pay to enter the collections. For that, a temporary exhibition on fashion is one of the trendiest options.
But how to convince people that the exhibition is worse the price? How to make sure that visitors will connect with the objects displayed? Once again, I believe that fashion is an “easy” way: I bet more people will understand, or at least will be interested, in the Louvre Couture rather than A New Look at Cimabue – and can we blame them?
Fashion, and clothes in general, are more accessible because we all wear them. We can all imagine what it could feel to wear a certain dress, a pair of shoes or a necklace. Furthermore, clothes, as it evolves with trends, are a perfect example of our society. What is better than fashion to display the changes Humanity went through? From questioning gender to illustrating the liberation of women, clothes embody societal questions and transformations. For instance, to see the changes in skirts and to understand what it could imply you don’t need a strong art history background. That is why I believe people could think a fashion exhibition is less intellectual than a fine art one and thus won’t be afraid to attend it – especially for the ones who think they don’t belong to the art world.
Aesthetic and beauty: the power of social media
When it comes to fashion exhibitions, the inspirations from the pieces or the maison de haute couture allow museums to curate magnificent shows. The scenography of fashion exhibitions is, usually, impressive. Below, you will find pictures of two shows I attended: the Iris Van Herpen one at the MAD Paris and the Louvre Couture at the Louvre. You will see how the set design is very important and compliment the clothes – and vice versa – in both exhibitions.
owadays, no one can argue the power of social media. They do and undo trends, especially when it comes to fashion – and body appearance. Thus, the importance of social media to spread, and to make viral, a fashion exhibition is undeniable. As people want to post aesthetically pleasing pictures, a beautiful show will luckily make it to their insta story. Plus, I think there is a current trend among most of influencers to display their luxurious lifestyle. Those who have a significant number of followers might be more willing to show a fashion exhibition rather than a fine art one – cool to go to the YSL museum fully dressed in YSL and be able to post about it, right?
I believe fashion exhibitions are often, if not always, made to be instagramable. The colors, the movement, and the exhibition spaces clearly encourage people to take pictures – and to post on social medias! The buzz, as to the one I currently see for the Dolce and Gabbana show, makes exhibitions trendy and attract people. I would love to say that people attend these exhibitions to admire the objects and learn their history, but I think that the opportunity of snapping a good picture and post it to prove they were there as well the main driving force for many visitors. However, I hope they really enjoy their moment and could be tempted to come back to museums, and I truly believe institutions are trying to combine beaty and knowledge.
For institutions, fashion exhibition can be seen as “safe” theme. They ensure a buzz, or at least, more buzz than niche fine art theme. Furthermore, the use of the temporary exhibition model creates even more excitation around the show because it is limited in time.
Finally, as previously explained in this article, fashion houses have their own archives and could curate exceptional exhibitions themselves. Some of them even have their very own museum, or dedicated space to display pieces in their offices. But, when we are speaking about ten of thousands of clothes, jewelry and accessories, they don’t have enough room. Thus, institutions are essential to display more than a few pieces. I believe that is one of the final reasons why fashion exhibitions are becoming more and more popular: it is another way, for brands, to spread their heritage on the cultural scene. And, as it is probably a good deal for them, museums are willing to do so.
To conclude, I believe the success of fashion exhibition is the result of several factors: the easiness of curating a beautiful show, the aura of creators and brands, the recent creation of archives and thus the endless resources – and the possibilities to brand the collection with “never seen before pieces” and the certain buzz on social media. Furthermore, I think the economic crisis the cultural world is going through is an important part of these successes as it motivates institutions to curate blockbusters exhibitions to ensure an income. Finally, fashion and clothes are everywhere around us: every year, the MET Gala makes more and more noises on the internet, the Oscars, Golden Globes or Grammys’ red carpets are scrutinized by the fashion police, each new sneakers launch is a major event…Fashion is everywhere around us and, nowadays, it became an accessible subject, that can attract a lot and specifically people that don’t usually go to museums.
And if fashion can attract and win the loyalty of people to museums, generates money to protect our heritage and demystify cultural institutions, then I’m all for these types of shows!
PS: this article is mainly based on my personal thoughts and I’m not minimizing, in any way, the hard work of curators of fashion exhibitions.
Louise Moreau
