Exhibition

Displaying fabrics created for couture by contemporary designers and clothing made and worn in the 18th century side by side, the exhibition created a playful, instructive and delightful dialogue between the Century of Lights and our modern world.

Since the movable, detachable bumps from his Spring/Summer 1997 collection up to his Autumn/Winter 2010-11 look, endowed with zipped panniers and different adjustable padding, Rei Kawakubo pour Comme des Garçons plays with the historical and the contemporary. His clothes evoke sort of 18th Century “amazon” dreamed up by Tim Burton.

For his Spring/Summer 2011 menswear show, Yohji Yamamoto was inspired entirely by the masculine wardrobe of the late 18th century or “anglomania”, a synonym of simplicity, of more comfortable forms and rigor, absolute reign. This simplification of the male wardrobe is at the origin of the modern three-piece suit.

Thierry Mugler uses everything that is demonstrative, like for example the excessive size of the pannier or the use of black linked to bereavement to bring together an eccentric evening gown, in order to better exacerbate the female forms associated with a gladly domineering woman. Ostentation, a mise-en-scène of the female body, cruelty... are all notions which very much belong to this 18th century of Dangerous Liaisons.



Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga paid tribute to the heritage of the heritage of the 18th century by inverting values and colour codes: a men’s wardrobe where delicate lacework in whites and creams is everywhere and where the designer has played with transparency to exacerbate the martial allure of young women dressed as men.








Azzedine Alaïa animated an 18th century stripped back to its basics, so as to take from the libertine spirit only the narrow waistlines and busty chests combined with the false rigor of a military jacket or even with the freshness of English embroidery.








As the then artistic director of the Maison Givenchy, Alexander McQueen revisited the men’s wardrobe of the Century of Lights to dress his woman in precious evening fabrics. For this look, he referenced French style replacing Gros de Tours with faille fabric or fluted textiles typical of the period. The lace’s old silver colour replaces the younger sons of the silver family.







An imposing volume of court dress, based on an English style dress, adjusted at the bust and worn over a grand pannier, a corseted bust typical of the 18th century, wide décolletage, discovering the birth of the bra, endless meters of precious silk taffeta... John Galliano pour Christian Dior offered his visions as mirror of 18th century fashion.








Since the 90s, Vivienne Westwood has looked to the charms of the 18th century. Impassioned by the cut and techniques typical of the era, she uses ribbons in an alternative way with safety pins and has become a master of provocative historical assemblage work. Frivolity and powder colours are reborn. Under her impulsion, the Century of Lights come across a new infatuation.

Photos ¢ Versailles C Milet