The Fashion Exhibitions Defining March

Un Héritage Fantasmé

Paris, France

In 1775, the budget of the French queen’s household amounted to 2.2 million livres. Ten years later, it had more than doubled. “A young, pretty queen, full of charm, does not need all these follies; on the contrary, simplicity in dress appears more elegant and is more suited to the rank of a queen. She must set the tone, and everyone will eagerly follow even your smallest quirks; but I, who love my little queen and follow her every step, cannot help but warn her about this little frivolity.”

This is how the Hapsburg ruler Maria Theresa wrote to her daughter Marie Antoinette, who became the first great fashion influencer in history. A premonition? Promoted as the “mannequin” of the elegant world, according to her biographer Stefan Zweig, the Queen of France made fashion her empire. But then the first pamphlets appeared, denouncing the imprudence of “the Austrian,” her taste for gambling, her disregard for court etiquette, and, above all, her coquetry. She would eventually be guillotined. Who would have thought that the recent, sold-out exhibition Marie Antoinette Style, at the V&A in London, would be such a success? Marie Antoinette’s fashion still fascinates and attracts attention, a theme that continues in a new exhibition, organized this time in Paris, titled Fashion in the 18th Century: A Fantasized Legacy, at the Palais Galliera.

Until July 24, 2026. palaisgalliera.paris.fr

Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art

London, United Kingdom

Mrs. Schiaparelli, with the talent we know her for, managed to push back the boundaries of elegance to the very limits of the bizarre,” wrote Christian Dior in Dior et moi (1956). The New Look master did not really share her sense of extravagance taken to the extreme. No matter. There are still so many reasons to discover Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art, the magical exhibition at the V&A in London about designer Elsa Schiaparelli. It’s the U.K.’s first exhibition dedicated to her and probably the most important one anywhere. The show includes over two hundred objects: garments, accessories, jewelry, paintings, photographs, sculpture, furniture, perfumes, and archive material, including contributions from Jean-Michel Frank and Alberto Giacometti, the duo who designed her couture salon at 21 Place Vendôme in Paris.

The variety of styles and items on view demonstrates the boundless creativity of the house of Schiaparelli. The V&A holds some of Elsa Schiaparelli’s most radical designs, like the Skeleton dress and the Tears dress, along with a hat shaped to look like an upside-down shoe, all conceived in collaboration with Salvador Dalí. “In difficult times fashion is outrageous,” she used to say. Artworks by Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Man Ray are also on display. It’s a major event. For Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art celebrates “one of the most ingenious and daring designers in fashion history.” We can also admire the extravagant pieces created by Daniel Roseberry, who was named Maison Schiaparelli’s art director in 2019 and still works in the iconic salons on Place Vendôme. Think pink and enjoy!

Opens March 28, 2026. vam.ac.uk/

Costumes of Light

Arles, France

The Fragonard Museum, located in Arles in the exceptional Hôtel de Bouchaud de Bussy, highlights the extraordinary mission carried out by the Costa sisters, who are the fourth-generation stewards of their family business, Fragonard Parfumeur. The museum is dedicated to preserving the fashion and costume heritage of Provence since the mid-eighteenth century and displays pieces from the sisters’ collection as well as those from the collection of historians Odile and Magali Pascal. These collections are augmented by the museum’s paintings, engravings, and photographs, as well as archives from the fashion house of Christian Lacroix and unique pieces from the private collection of Alberto Perales, all celebrating the roots and culture of the Mediterranean region of France.

An exhibition starting this month, titled Costumes de lumière ! En piste, sur scène et sur les podiums (Costumes of Light! On the Stage, the Runway and the Podium), explores the cultural legend of the matador’s costume: its association with the world of bullfighting and the heroic image it represents. The costume is traditionally called the traje de luces, which in Spanish means “suit of lights,” and originated in the eighteenth century in Spain. At that time, bullfighting evolved from an aristocratic pastime into a popular spectacle. Toreros adopted highly decorated costumes to impress the audience and assert their status. The name “suit of lights” comes from the gold and silver threads that are sewn onto the jacket and trousers, which shine under the sun.

The toreador costume has become an artistic and cultural icon. It appears in painting, literature, and even fashion. Famous designers such as Paco Rabanne, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Lacroix have drawn inspiration from it. Jean Cocteau and Ernest Hemingway admired the courage, precision, and ritual of the matador, seeing bullfighting as a pure expression of art, life, and death intertwined. Hemingway often emphasized that the traje de luces and the matador’s skill make the spectacle a combination of ceremony, heroism, and poetry. As he put it: “Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter’s honor.”  

Opens March 27 until April 26, 2026. musee-mode-costume.fragonard.com