FASHION IN MOTION

Peter Knapp, Models in swimming costumes,1971. Collection of Palais Galliera. © Peter Knapp, Palais Galliera / Paris Musées / ADAGP, 2023

COLLECTIONS EXHIBITION I GARDEN FLOOR

16 June 2023 - 7 September 2025

From 16 June 2023 to 7 September 2025, the Palais Galliera is presenting "La mode en mouvement" [‘Fashion in Motion’], its second collections exhibition in the garden floor galleries.

This chronological exhibition, featuring some 200 works, traces the history of fashion from the 18th century to the present day through the museum’s collections, while also developing a transversal theme on the body in movement.

In resonance with the Olympic and Paralympic Games that are to be held in Paris in 2024, the Palais Galliera examines the part played by clothing in physical and sporting activities, its relationship to the body and to movement, and the social consequences of its development.

Garments designed for physical and sporting activities are presented alongside everyday clothing. This dialogue casts light on the idea of how sportswear became specialised, how women’s wear was adapted for physical activity at the end of the 19th century, the masculinisation of women’s clothing, and the adoption of sportswear as clothing for everyday life. The changing image of the body, particularly the athletic body, and the way it has been accentuated by clothing, is highlighted in order to show how the liberation of the body through physical activity has contributed to changing mentalities and beauty standards. Swimming costumes, cycling outfits, side-saddle habits, motoring coats and accessories, jogging suits, and sneakers all reflect the distinct silhouettes of three centuries of fashion history.

The museum has benefited from exceptional loans from the Musée national du Sport (Nice), the Bibliothèque Forney (Paris), Patrimoine CHANEL, the Emile Hermès Collection, Rykiel Creation, and Maison Yohji Yamamoto. These guest items add perspective to the Palais Galliera pieces, reflecting attitudes to physical exercise and sport through the ages, whether competitive or as a leisure activity.

For preventive conservation reasons, this exhibition will be presented as three successive displays, each requiring a five-week closure. It means that many of the items will be replaced, making it worthwhile for visitors to come again and discover more from the collections of the Palais Galliera.

LES COULEURS DE LA MODE

From 16 June 2023 to 15 March 2024, as an extension of the collections exhibition in the Galerie Courbe on the garden floor, the Palais Galliera will be presenting "Les couleurs de la mode" [‘Colours of fashion’], an exhibition of works from the collection of autochromes kept at the Musée des Arts et Métiers (CNAM, Paris).

These exceptional images were created to showcase French luxury in a new type of event that ran from 1921 to 1923 in Paris: the Salon du Goût Français. The originality of the exhibition lay in its presentation: an ephemeral display of autochromes, backlit like «stained glass windows in a cathedral.»

The exhibition at the Palais Galliera of these previously unpublished colour photographs gives us a fresh perspective on early 1920s fashion. Presented as facsimiles, a corpus of around one hundred images reveals the subtle palette of the autochrome alongside the costumes, accessories and documents from the Museum.

CURATORS 

General curator
Miren Arzalluz, director of the Palais Galliera

Curators
Marie-Laure Gutton, head of the accessories collections, and all the curators, assisted by Samy Jelil

Associate curator for "Les couleurs de la mode"
Sylvie Lecallier, head of Photograph Collections

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This exhibition is part of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad programme, which has the full support of Paris Musées and the museums of the City of Paris.

"La mode en mouvement" ['Fashion in Motion'] is supported by : 

In partnership with the CNAM, "Les couleurs de la mode" [‘Colours of fashion’] is supported by :