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By Elaine Sciolino
Paris Report
16th century ornamental clocks in a framed metal body by Thierry Mugler. The silver-gilt relics with sculpted hands sit next to a pair of Hermes gloves. A ceramic hand warmer from Faenza, Italy, that looks like an e-book is paired with a Chanel that looks like an e-book.
This is “Louvre Couture,” the first fashion exhibition at the famed Paris museum in its 231-year history.
The last time Haute Couture generated so much emotion in the Louvre in 1957, when, in the movie “Funny Face”, Audrey Hepburn posed in front of Samothrace’s winged victory in a red rhythm that dresses and hurried down Daru’s staircase, Raising a matching gauze chal on your head.
Forty-five fashion houses and designers — from Cristóbal Balenciaga to Iris van Herpen — have lent the museum 100 ensembles and accessories, dating from 1960 to 2025. They are arrayed not among the Louvre’s famous paintings and marble sculptures but throughout the nearly 100,000 square feet of its decorative arts department.
The department, whose collection levels loose from the Middle Ages to the early 19th century, is with thousands of objects: medieval armor, Renaissance tapestries, carved ivory, bronzes, ceramics, imperial cutlery and furniture.
“It is easy to enter our museum, especially our collection,” explains Olivier Gabet, director of the Department of Ornamental Arts. “Our purpose is to make more people, other people, more youthful, happy, loose and comfortable people when they come here. We tell them: “Okay, you like fashion. Fashion is a bridge for us.
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