Attention couture addicts: the Louvre is going couture! - From January 24 to July 21, 2025, the Louvre trades in its classic airs for a veritable revue of style with "LOUVRE COUTURE.Objets d'art, objets de mode". The world's most iconic museum opens its imaginary wardrobe and rolls out the red carpet for fashion, with an exhibition that blends haute couture and historical masterpieces. Made to measure!
Over 9,000 square meters, the Louvre invites visitors to a fashion show, or rather an original stroll, where the silhouettes of the greatest couturiers mingle with the treasures of its Objets d'art department. A hundred mythical creations, garments and accessories, on loan from 45 fashion houses - Cristóbal Balenciaga, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Yohji Yamamoto and Iris van Herpen - interact with pieces of decorative art that continue to inspire designers.
From an antique bas-relief to a grandiose tapestry, via an 18thᵉ century chest of drawers, art bends over backwards to reveal its finest materials and techniques, subtly reinterpreted in contemporary couture creations: a Boulle piece of furniture inspires a tailor's embroidery, a suit of armor becomes a dress ...
There's no classic itinerary here, just an invitation to stroll. Visitors will sail from one era to the next, at the whim of inspiration. Head for Byzantium and the Middle Ages, where the most precious works - gold, ivory and gems - are reflected in sublime silhouettes, proudly perched on mirrored catwalks, giving the museum's galleries a catwalk-like air. In the Renaissance halls, majestic tapestries, glazed ceramics and finely-worked suits of armor also play the part of accomplice to the designer pieces.
Then it's on to the Council of State rooms, where costumes inspired by the Grand Siècle display their splendor, while in the period rooms, where works from the XVIIIᵉ century are on display, gowns, ensembles and accessories immerse themselves in period settings, for a haute couture journey back in time.
And to round off the show in style, head for the Napoleon III apartments, where the exuberance of the XIXᵉ century bursts forth in flamboyant silhouettes worthy of an imperial ball. A glamorous apotheosis that leaves you dreaming!
The Louvre doesn't keep any clothes - except for a few historic pieces like the coats of the Order of the Holy Spirit - but the galleries are overflowing with textile inspiration. Designers make no mistake: for them, the museum is a veritable open-air workshop, an XXL moodboard where every detail can become a source of inspiration. The exhibition explores this richness with passion.
This link between couture and culture is not new. Figures such as Jacques Doucet or Marie-Louise Carven - who donated a collection of 18th-century objets d'art to the Louvre - helped make this dialogue a tradition. Even today, couturiers revisit ancient know-how, playing with eras and references.
The magic of this exhibition also lies in the scenography entrusted to Nathalie Crinière, a virtuoso of detail. Having already enhanced the Galerie Dior and the exhibitions for Elsa Schiaparelli and Iris van Herpen, here she sublimates the interactions between fashion and art with an immersive staging, where each piece finds its own light.
Olivier Gabet, Director of the Objets d'Art Department at the Louvre, sums up the challenge perfectly: "Today, I think fashion is even more interesting when it's presented in relation to other fields. When you talk to a designer, of course he or she talks about fashion, but also about art, craftsmanship and photography." This multi-faceted dialogue reveals fashion to be rich, inspired and more alive than ever.
Art and fashion have never gone so well together!
Dates and Opening Time
From January 24, 2025 to July 21, 2025
Location
Louvre Museum
musée du louvre
75001 Paris 1
Access
Metro Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre
Prices
Tarif Jeunes (- 18 ans): Free
Tarif Jeunes (18-25 ans résidents des pays d'Europe): Free
Plein Tarif (musée + exposition): €22
Average duration
2 h
Official website
www.louvre.fr