Haute couture and great art: Dior exhibition opens in Moscow

A new exhibition has opened in Moscow –“Inspiration Dior,” where haute couture masterpieces that represent different eras of the famous fashion house are mixed with famous paintings.

To display the apparel and accessories designed by Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Gianfranco Ferré and John Galliano, the Dior exhibition designer Nathalie Criniere placed mirrors on the walls and ceiling and turned the familiar halls of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts into a sparkling kingdom.

Apart from haute couture masterpieces, visitors of the exhibition can also enjoy the paintings from the collections of the Musee d’Orsay, the Louvre, Versailles, the Beyeler Foundation, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. These paintings inspired the Dior designers in their work. Photo: (left) silk coat from the Dior spring/summer collection of 2002, (right) Kazimir Malevich’s Woman with Rake, 1928-1932

The “Waltz of the Times” showcase that includes the bulk of the exhibits is displayed in White Hall.

Here we can see the main pieces that reflect the key eras and sources of inspiration for Dior designers. Photo: Miss Dior short evening gown, spring/summer collection 1949.

The influence of 18th-century culture and fashion is clear in Dior’s gowns with bouffant skirts and narrow waists. Photo: (left) – dress from the Dior autumn/winter collection 1952-1953, (right) – portrait of French Queen Marie Antoinette, 18th century.

… and the Belle Époque of the 19th-20th centuries, which is represented by this dress designed by Galliano. Photo: (left) gray tulle dress from the Dior autumn/winter haute couture collection 2005-2006, (right) - Portrait of Mrs. Charles Max, Giovanni Boldini, 1896

The gowns displayed at the exhibition vividly prove that fashion is art. Photo: Dress from the Leopardo line.

Dior designers were inspired not only by different historical periods and childhood memories, but also by other cultures. Spain, for example. Photo: (left) – gray jacket with gold embroidery and silk skirt from Dior autumn/winter collection 2003-2004. Right – La Carmencita by John Singer Sargent (1890) from the collection of Musee d’Orsay.

Another example is this hand-embroidered coat from the Dior spring/summer collection of 2009. It uses an image from the famous Japanese print The Great Wave off Kanagawa, from the famous series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai.

The exhibition “Inspiration Dior” will run through July 24.