"Christian Lacroix, Fashion Histories" at Musée de la Mode (through April 20)

Sarah-Neel Smith writing for I V Y Paris

Unlike the Musée de la Mode's hugely successful 2006 Balenciaga show, which caught the attention of aesthetes the world over, this exhibit is really for pre-established Christian Lacroix fans, and true members of the fashion pack.

For existing fans, "Fashion Stories" is a thrilling exposé of Lacroix's private sources of inspiration: in the many wall texts, he waxes nostalgic about his grandmother's white dresses, and defiant about his dissonant color choices.

For other members of the fashion industry -- which can be so focused on the future that it sometimes loses track of the present (next season, next season, next season) -- being surrounded by 500 garments from the past can feel like a day at the spa.

(Visiting with a member of the New York Vogue team, I saw this effect in action firsthand: in fact, the show is worth a visit just to spot the elegant Parisian grandes dames who show up in pairs or the moody black-clad stylists taking notes.)

You'd never guess from this exhibit that Lacroix actually graduated from the Ecole du Louvre, France's factory for museum-curators, in the early 1980's.

The exhibit is broken up into naive thematic categories (stripes, polka-dots, "Spanish"), which are decorated with garish accessories (cheap plastic flowers strewn around the "Spanish" section, for example).

As a fashion set, it works: the 400-some dresses dating from the 17th century onwards provide an extravagant, rich jumble which makes the visitor feel like they're discovering Lacroix's dresses in a messy attic trunk. As a "fashion history," or an art exhibit, it is less successful.

This is clearly not Lacroix giving us a new take on fashion history -- it is fashion history serving as a backdrop for Lacroix's last 20 years of (fabulous) production.

Comments

[Style and the City - Paris]

Salut Ivy

je découvre ton blog et le moins que l'on puisse dire c'est : bravo !
complet, écclectique, claire, ergonome...

jette un oeil sur mes romans photos de street style et dis moi ce que tu en penses.
si tu as besoin de prendre quelques photos, n'hésite pas. quelques blogeuse l'on fait et déclenché 40-50 commentaires.
juste crédite moi avec un lien

au plaisir d'échanger, de faire connaissance, d'échanger des liens...

Kamel LAHMADI
street style hunter à Paris