Designer Masterpieces at Paris City Hall
1st April 2013 The elegant surroundings of Paris City Hall celebrates haute couture with a dazzling selection of designs by fashion luminaries from Doucet to Dior, Chanel to Courrèges, and Vionnet to Yves Saint Laurent. The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Galliera Museum in Paris and Swarovski, whose crystals have a long history with haute couture and designers. Over one hundred designs are featured – many of which have never been on public display before. Haute couture was born in Paris in the mid-19th century, and since then, generations of designers have transformed this supposedly frivolous discipline into high art.
What is amazing on viewing the gorgeous assemblage of outfits is to think of the talent and skills in the hands of the people who made the designs a reality – embroiders and plumassiers (feather workers); hands that knew exactly how and where to place or form a flower and other couture embellishments. The exhibition is a beautiful tribute to Haute Couture and provides insight into the behind the scenes process of world-famous fashion houses. The exhibition continues through 6 July 2013 at Paris City Hall, Saint-Jean Room, 5 rue Lobau, 75004 Paris. Open every day except Sundays and bank holidays, from 10h00 to 19h00. JG
Photos: Coutresy of Paris City Hall Top photo: Balenciaga Evening Outfit August 1967
