Photo : Musée des Arts Décoratifs
Look! 40 years of fashion at the museum
Go behind the velvet curtain to discover how haute couture transitions from the designer's sketch to a museum masterpiece. This exhibition chronicles forty years of sartorial evolution, highlighting the silent artisans who preserve these legendary fabrics for posterity. It is a stunning visual journey that treats every garment as a cultural milestone.
Musée des Arts décoratifs (Paris 1st)
About
Experience four decades of fashion history at the Musée des Arts décoratifs with the exhibition Look!. Running from October 1, 2026, to April 4, 2027, this event reveals the journey of a garment, from the initial sketch to its preservation as a piece of art. Visitors can explore the technical expertise behind conservation, restoration, and curation. With ticket prices ranging from 0 to 18 euros, this exhibition provides an in-depth look at how clothing shapes our culture and heritage through the lens of forty years of iconic museum showcases.
The major exhibition "Look! 40 years of fashion at the museum" reveals the craftsmanship and processes of fashion that transform garments into works of art, from couture workshops to behind-the-scenes at the museum. The exhibition invites visitors to follow the two lives of a garment, before and after its entry into the collections. From the initial sketch to the fashion show via fashion photography, and from the museum's reserves to the exhibition floor, it unveils the stages of creation, conservation, and restoration that bring this exceptional heritage to life.
The public can discover the beauty of the works and objects that contribute to the invention of a fashion piece: drawings, embroidery samples, patterns, model deposits... Sublimated by photography and worn by increasingly famous models, the garment becomes the star of fashion shows, now conceived as true artistic performances.
Presentation
An immersion behind the scenes of the museum reveals the places and know-how of true artisans of fashion history who work to document, store, restore, and mannequin a heritage destined to be passed on to future generations.
Enriched by the extraordinary holdings of the Union Française des Arts du Costume (Ufac) and the donations of numerous creators, these collections are presented to the contemporary public through major exhibitions. Forty iconic silhouettes, magnified in the museum's nave, offer a stroll through four decades of exhibitions that have contributed to the sanctification of fashion. From "Moments de mode" to "Christian Dior, couturier du rêve" or "Les Mondes surréalistes d'Elsa Schiaparelli," from "Jouer la lumière" to "La Mécanique des dessous," they illustrate the diversity of the museum's approaches, celebrating masterpieces of haute couture as well as emerging creation, while questioning the social and cultural role of clothing.
Through this original exhibition, the Musée des Arts décoratifs celebrates both the anniversary of the Musée des Arts de la Mode, the gift of the rich Ufac collections, and forty years of dialogue between creation, heritage, and society. In charge of the national fashion collections, it reaffirms its mission: to preserve.
Our take on this event
This exhibition explores the dual life of fashion: its creative birth in the studio and its subsequent life within the museum's archives. You will discover the meticulous work of artisans who document, store, and restore these garments to preserve them for future generations. By examining original sketches, embroidery samples, and patterns, the exhibit highlights the craftsmanship that transforms fabric into a true work of art.
The centerpiece features forty iconic silhouettes displayed in the museum's nave, celebrating the legacy of landmark exhibitions such as those dedicated to Christian Dior and Elsa Schiaparelli. This showcase honors the diversity of the museum's collections, which are rooted in the rich archives of the Union française des Arts du Costume.
You can visit the museum from Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 18:00, with extended hours on Thursdays until 21:00. Admission prices vary from 0 to 18 euros.
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