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Several artworks for the world’s most renowned designers are exhibited at the Louvre to pay homage to the enduring dialogue between fashion and art

What is art? Answering this question is anything but simple—almost like searching for the meaning of our own existence... From Aristotle onward, countless thinkers have attempted to define it, yet no single definition has ever been universally accepted... Throughout history, art has played many roles: it has pursued ideals of beauty, as in Canova's Cupid and Psyche; preserved the likeness of great figures and expressed social or political identities, as in the Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques Louis David... sparked debate and challenged conventions, as in Duchamp's Fontana ... reflected the struggles of human existence, as in Munch's Scream, or sought to give form to the world of the spirit, as in Kandinsky's masterpieces...

Antonio Canova, Cupid and Psyche (1787-1793)

Jacques Louis David, Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1801)

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain (1917)

But if art is expression, research, communication, then why limit it to painting and sculpture? Photography, cinema, and even fashion can also serve as artistic languages, as they embody the same tension towards beauty, the same urge to provoke, the same power to tell stories and shape identities. A fashion designer, much like a painter or a sculptor, shapes materials - fabrics instead of marble or colours - and through his creations can express ideals of beauty, establish identities, ignite debate, tell their own stories ... And so Coco Chanel, with her refinedly minimalist approach where less is more, is therefore not so distant from Constantin Brâncuși or Mies van der Rohe, with whom she shares the same tendency to simplify the superfluous ... Likewise, Christian Dior, by composing textile surfaces and volumes, discovers himself to be an architect even before being a designer ("Je voulais être architecte. Etant couturier, je suis obligé de suivre des lois, des principes d'architecture‘). Similarly, Yves Saint Laurent often transformed renowned paintings into haute couture, bringing to the runway the works of Pierre Bonnard, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and, above all, Piet Mondrian, whom he described as embodying the purest essence of art: "Mondrian is purity, and I don't think there is anything purer in art."

The Louvre has dedicated its latest exhibition, Louvre Couture, open until 21 July 2025, precisely to the permeable dialogue between art and fashion. Until now the museum has in fact never housed clothing in its permanent collections: however, for these months, more than a hundred dresses by renowned designers—from Louis Vuitton to Elsa Schiaparelli, from Yohji Yamamoto to Alexander McQueen—are on display in the Decorative Arts Department. These creations by great couturiers establish a poetic dialogue with the history of decorative styles, particularly those of the Louvre, which has long served as a visual training ground for generations of creators. Sometimes, these echoes manifest with striking clarity in works rich with direct references; at other times, they take on a dreamlike, almost intangible quality, weaving themselves into an atmosphere rather than specific details. These influences all reverberate through the objets d’art of the Louvre, outlining a veritable visual and textile history that stretches from the age of Byzantium to the Second Empire of Napoleon III.

It is precisely from the Eastern Roman Empire that the exhibition begins. Byzantine art, with its hieratic figures enthroned on golden draperies infused with light, was meant to express the transcendent nature of the divine, and to de-fine (and thus make finite) what is infinite, that is, the bliss of Christian spirituality. Among the Louvre’s collections, a mosaic fragment from the Basilica of Torcello, the oldest place of worship in the lagoon of Venice, exemplifies this style with an angel’s head rendered in striking two-dimensionality, stripping away volumetry and corporeality to convey a spirituality beyond the earthly realm, while the surrounding golden tesserae radiate an infinite, celestial light.

Figure 1Mosaic fragment, angel's head, Torcello, Italy, circa 1050–1100, glass, limestone, plaster, H. 36.5 cm; W. 26 cm; D. 4 cm, © GrandPalaisRmn (Louvre Museum) / Mathieu Rabeau.

This golden preciousness, seen across works from Ravenna to Istanbul to Monreale, near Palermo, has inspired the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, interpreters of an opulent, baroque, sensual style, which draws heavily from the sumptuousness of Sicilian motifs and colours. In fact, the art of the Byzantine mosaicists who created Monreale, along with the angel’s head in the Louvre, directly inspired a jacquard wool dress from their 2023/2024 autumn-winter collection, adorned with intricate embroidery, shimmering sequins, crystals, and precious stones - a contemporary tribute to a centuries-old artistic legacy.

Meanwhile, in medieval Europe, Christian art, which had initially been practiced in secrecy within underground catacombs, sought to ascend from below and reach toward the heavens. Towering cathedrals were erected with this very purpose, as if to reunite humanity with God. To reflect the infinite nature of the divine, these cathedrals shimmered with the same brilliance of gold, gems, and enamels seen in sacred objects, mirroring the reliquaries of the time. Interestingly, these reliquaries, in turn, borrowed from architectural forms, creating a reciprocal influence. Among the Louvre’s collections is exactly a Flemish reliquary crafted from gilded silver and translucent enamels, whose delicate ornamentation recalls the technical mastery of medieval cathedrals.

Reliquary, circa 1300–1600, gilded silver and translucent enamels, H. 31 cm; W. 14 cm, © 2022 Musée du Louvre / Department of Decorative Arts of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Modern Times.

Six centuries later, a similar interplay appears in the work of Iris van Herpen, whose dresses resemble intricate structures integrated into the body, drawing inspiration from the aesthetic vocabulary of the Gothic era. This is particularly evident in the Robe Cathedral, a creation with flowing curves, counter-curves, and finely sculpted details achieved through 3D-printed polyamide chiselling.

Figure 3 Collection "Micro," Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2012, Robe Cathedral, 3D-printed polyamide (Selective Laser Sintering), copper (electrolysis), Iris Van Herpen, Amsterdam, © Courtesy Iris van Herpen.

The European Middle Ages was not only marked by the solemnity of faith and the austerity of grand cathedrals, but also by the splendour of a feudal society steeped in courtly ideals, where the epic deeds of valiant knights were sublimated into the lyricism and grace of aristocratic romance. This refinement is beautifully captured in the Country Concert, a Flemish millefleur tapestry depicting four noble figures engaged in leisurely pursuits against a backdrop of countless floral species.

Figure 4 Millefleurs tapestry, Country Concert, circa 1500, wool and silk, Flanders or northern France, H. 272 cm; W. 212 cm, © 2011 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Philippe Fuzeau.

The same sense of lightness and elegance in this tapestry inspires a silk evening robe from Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior. Dior himself, with his 1947 New Look, introduced an aesthetic of abundance, femininity, vaporousness and flowing volumes—far removed from the minimalism of Chanel or the wartime austerity that had just ended. " We were leaving a period of war, of uniforms, of soldier-women with shoulders like boxers. I turned them into flowers, with soft shoulders, blooming bosoms, waists slim as vine stems, and skirts opening up like blossoms," he once said. Reinterpreting these ideals, Maria Grazia Chiuri adorns the dress with a rich surface of floral motifs and small animals, evoking the enchantment of a medieval millefleurs.

This era led to the grand siècle, the period of Louis XIV’s political and cultural hegemony, during which Paris and Versailles became the epicenters of fashion and taste: the Baroque style, with its theatricality and rich ornamentation, became the aesthetic language used to glorify the sovereign’s absolute power. Particularly at Versailles, the arts worked in unison to celebrate the king’s grandeur: from Charles Le Brun's paintings to André Le Nôtre's gardens and André-Charles Boulle's refined furnishings, essential for adorning the vestibules, antechambers and salons of this magnificent palace. Among the treasures of the Louvre, for example, there is a Boulle cupboard decorated with floral motifs, where the polychromy of the various woods, gilded bronze and brass and tortoiseshell inlays embodies the opulence and refinement of this age devoted to luxury.

Elsa Schiaparelli, a bold and visionary designer who constantly challenged fashion’s conventions and engaged in deep artistic dialogue—collaborating with figures like Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau—drew inspiration from this world in her 1938 Astrology collection. The reference to Louis XIV, the Sun King who likened himself to Apollo in his chariot, is unmistakable, evoking the idea of absolute centrality as a symbol of radiant and unrivalled power. Inspired by this iconic chapter in fashion history, which includes the famous ‘Zodiac’ jacket, Daniel Roseberry - creative director of the Schiaparelli maison since 2019 - has designed a coat in double faille satin, embroidered with lamé threads, tubes, golden pearls and Swarovski rhinestones, in which an Apollonian chariot emerges from the deep black of the fabric like a golden glow in the darkness, reflecting Schiaparelli’s appreciation for the decorative arts and the grandeur of the Grand Siècle. John Galliano, meanwhile, offers a different interpretation of the century of Louis XIV, envisioning the image of a ‘warrior woman’. His design features a majestic gown with a voluminous silhouette in silver fabric, shaded in blue and adorned with gold embroidery, where the imposing figure of a lion stands out.

Figure 5 Collection "An Era of Discipline," Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2022, embroidered coat by Maison Lesage, double faille satin embellished with lamé threads, tubes, golden pearls, and Swarovski rhinestones; wool trousers, Maison Schiaparelli, Paris, © Mais

From the dramatic monumentality of the Baroque, art then moved toward a lighter, more intimate and decorative aesthetic, witnessing an era in which even the aristocracy, distancing itself from the rigidity of court life, embraced a more frivolous and carefree existence. Rococo beautifully captured this shift, concealing the bare surface of the architecture or furniture with a cloak of delicate ornamentation in bright and colours. One example housed at the Louvre is Matthieu Criaerd’s turquoise commode in oak, lacquer, and turquoise marble, with its panels decorated with floating scenes of Chinese-inspired plants, peacocks and birds in flight.

Figure 6 Mathieu Criaerd (1689–1776), commode, Paris, 1742, oak frame, fruitwood veneer, Western lacquer known as "vernis Martin," silvered bronze, Bleu Turquin marble, © 2012 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Thierry Ollivier.

The sinuosity and lightness of this commode served as inspiration for Karl Lagerfeld. Stripping away the plant and animal motifs, he retained the blue swirls and ornamental details, translating them into the contours of a sequined gown, while the skirt features delicate ostrich feather embroidery.

The journey concludes with the era of Napoleon III. After passing through a revolution, the Napoleonic Empire, the Bourbon Restoration, the July Monarchy, and the Second Republic, France under Napoleon III returned to an imperial regime: During this time, Paris took on the appearance we recognize today, characterized by grand boulevards and lively cafés. Right at Napoleon III’s initiative, the final phase of the Louvre’s great construction project was completed with the addition of a new wing, designed by Hector Lefuel. Its halls and apartments were decorated in an opulent style reminiscent of the grandeur of Louis XIV’s Grand Siècle.

Napoleon Halls, © Geoff Livingston under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

 Dominated by red and gold—colors traditionally associated with theaters and performance halls—this lavish “theater of power” served as inspiration once again for Karl Lagerfeld’s sheath dress from the Autumn/Winter 1987–1988 collection, adorned with red silks and gold-thread frieze motifs, evoking the curtains of a grand stage. The same influence can be finally seen in John Galliano’s design for Christian Dior, a sumptuous gown in moiré fabric and velvet.

Figure 7 Christian Dior by John Galliano, Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2004–2005 collection, embroidered moiré gown and patterned velvet, Dior Héritage, Paris, 2005.5, © Christian Dior / Photo © Laziz Hamani.

These are just a few of the countless masterpieces that enrich the exhibition. Louvre Couture unveils a universal truth: beauty is never static—it unfolds through intricate expressions where tradition and modernity stand side by side, separated only by a breath. In this ongoing dialogue, the past shapes the present just as the present reimagines the past. By using fashion as a lens, the exhibition does more than showcase history—it brings it to life, transforming centuries-old artistry into something immediate, visceral, and dazzlingly relevant.