What do the French make exceptionally well besides perfume, wine, pastries, butter, cheese, baguette…? Art!
Recently, the Louvre Museum had an exhibition dedicated to couture. What took them so long?
I can’t think of a more appropriate place to showcase one of France’s most significant contributions to the art world: fashion.
Sixty-five couture pieces from exclusive houses, including Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, and Louis Vuitton, were displayed throughout the museum. Frocks and accessories appeared sporadically among the museum’s permanent collections, as if they were exotic animals living in their natural settings.
Louis Vuitton
Dior
Yves Saint Laurent
Not all the designs were French, but all were couture.
Prada
Versace
Gucci
Jonathan Anderson
Vivienne Westwood
The placement of the pieces appeared to be spontaneous, but was, in fact, carefully curated.
Walking around, it wasn’t difficult to understand the inspiration for the show. The garments and accessories were intentionally placed to draw connections and highlight parallels between different forms of art, as well as to pay homage to the masters who have come before and provided so much inspiration to contemporary designers and artists.
Most of us will never wear one of these gowns. Let’s face it, most of us will never even have the occasion to wear one of these gowns. But that fact didn’t make this show irrelevant. You don’t have to be among the rich and famous or be in the fashion industry to appreciate this art. Because no matter who we are, art feeds our souls and informs our innate creativity.
The famous Impressionist painter, Paul Cézanne, once said, “The Louvre is the book from which we learn to read.”
So, next time you’re in Paris, I recommend you visit the Louvre and read a chapter or two.