Look, 40 years of fashion in museums: couture retrospective at the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris

In Paris, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs puts fashion into perspective. This couture exhibition offers a sensitive look at forty years of creations and memories. The exhibition questions what we keep, and why.

LOOK! 40 years of fashion in museums: benchmarks and challenges

Conceived as a journey through the collections, the exhibition links the gestures of the couturiers with the eyes of visitors. The common thread runs back and forth between workshop, catwalk and showcase. The title sets the tone: LOOK! 40 years a time that counts.

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs opens up its storerooms and tells the story of time. The story also shows how a piece becomes a social witness. This couture exhibition sets concrete milestones, without fetishizing icons.

The tour reads like a montage of scenes, designed with rhythm in mind. Textures, volumes and images converse with sobriety. Visitors move forward by touch, then construct their own chronology.

“Fashion keeps track of the lives it touches.

A lively tale of podium and heritage

The focus is on gestures and materials. The cut, lining and hand become legible. As a result, the silhouette tells as much as the official story.

Fashion show photography meets studio archives. On the other hand, nothing overwhelms the eye: the scenography accompanies it. This couture exhibition does not forget the body that looks.

• Where: Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris
• Theme: four decades of creations and conservation
• A dialogue between haute couture and ready-to-wear
• Public: curious, students, families, professionals
• Tip: set aside some time to read the cartels

Historical landmarks and living legacies

Christian Dior – couturier du rêve (2017) set a course: to unite emotion, savoir-faire and rigor. In this way, the House of Dior served as a benchmark against which to measure the power of a museum narrative.

LOOK! feeds on this type of milestone, without reducing itself to it. As a result, the tour moves smoothly from one decade to the next. This couture exhibition doesn’t freeze the past: it makes it legible.

Fashion circulates, changes scale, then returns to the showcase. In addition, the museum translates these comings and goings through precise comparisons. The four decades form a framework, not a static catalog.

Know-how, archives and sustainability

Elsa Schiaparelli – Surrealist Worlds (2022) reminded us of the power of dialogue with art. Couture thus asserted itself as thought, image and gesture all at once.

The technical look counts as much as the emotion of the podium. In addition, fabrics, dyes and ornaments tell the story of their transformations. At the heart of this couture exhibition, conservation becomes a creative act.

Prepare your visit and give it meaning

The visit is best done in two stages. First, you read the reference points. Then, you return to the pieces that speak to you, according to your affinities.

The labels help, but the silhouettes speak for themselves. A fold, a fall, a volume all speak for themselves. This simple, concrete attention to detail guides your steps.

Paul Poiret – flamboyance nurtured a different memory of Paris. And his taste for the free line is a reminder of how freedom of movement changes style.

The museum links dream and use, podium and street. Yet nothing imposes a single reading. This couture exhibition leaves room for intimate narratives and curiosity, right up to the last room.

• sewing exhibition