The Louvre Museum in Paris is opening its first-ever fashion exhibition this month. The show, titled “Louvre Couture,” will run from January 24 to July 21. It will feature 71 looks and 30 accessories that showcase the close relationship between fashion and art.
The exhibition will be organized into seven historical periods, from the Byzantium epoch to the Middle Ages. It will display the work of 45 designers and fashion houses, including Iris van Herpen, Alexander McQueen, Dries Van Noten, Jacquemus, Vivienne Westwood, Loewe, Balenciaga, and Mugler. Olivier Gabet, the museum’s senior heritage curator and director of the decorative arts department, is curating the exhibition with assistance from Marie Brimcombe.
The goal is to “illustrate the close ties between fashion and art,” according to a statement from the museum. To celebrate the exhibition, the Louvre will host a gala fundraising dinner called “Grand Dîner du Louvre” on March 4, in partnership with Visa Infinite. The event aims to raise funds to support the museum’s activities.
It will take place in the Louvre’s Cour Marly, followed by an afterparty beneath the museum’s iconic pyramid.
Louvre bridges fashion and art
Representatives and designers from the fashion houses that have loaned garments for the exhibition are expected to attend the gala.
The museum hopes the event will grow into a major annual affair similar to New York’s Met Gala, which benefits the Costume Institute. The exhibition will span 9,700 square feet and showcase pieces from renowned designers alongside items from the museum’s permanent collection of decorative art objects. These include suits of armor, ceramics, ivories, tapestries, scientific instruments, jewelry, bronzes, stained glass, silverware, and the lavish Napoleon III apartments.
“This is really the first time that the Louvre has created an exhibition about the relationship between fashion and its own collections,” said the director of the decorative arts department at the Louvre Museum. “The goal is to explain why museums can be interesting and important for fashion designers and how our collections can nurture and inspire their work.”
The gala aims to raise over 1 million euros to support the Louvre’s various activities, which the museum says has already been successfully achieved through auctioning more than 30 tables. The largest fashion houses and foremost designers have contributed to support this cause.
Visa Infinite is a founding partner and patron of the event. The evening will begin with a reception and tour of the extensive exhibition, followed by a dinner in the Cour Marly, and will conclude with an after-party under the iconic I.M. Pei pyramid. The Louvre’s fashion exhibition and accompanying gala mark a significant moment in the intersection of art and fashion.
It showcases the museum’s commitment to exploring the creative dialogue between these two worlds and highlights the enduring influence of historical art on contemporary fashion design.
