An image from The Golden Age of Couture at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Destinations
Christian Lacroix: Histoires de mode
PARIS Nov. 8-April 27, 2008 When French designer Christian Lacroix was a young man studying art history at Ecole de Louvre, he secretly wished he were studying fashion history instead. "Being a fashion curator in a museum was my dream," Lacroix said last year. "But at the time, the fashion museum did not exist." To celebrate the 20th anniversary of his clothing line, Paris's Museum of Fashion and Textiles is letting Lacroix curate his own show of fashion history. For the past year, he has combed through the museum's extensive archives, pulling together a show of couture dating to the 15th century. Lacroix said many of the pieces he found in his research have never been on public display. Tickets $11.50.
Museum of Fashion and Textiles, 107 rue de Rivoli. 011-33-4455-5750. ucad.fr.
Frock Me!
LONDON Dec. 9
Posh vintage clothing retailers gather in Chelsea Old Town Hall to sell everything from classic Chanel jackets to 1980s Day-Glo miniskirts. Frock Me! draws a motley mix of celebrities, stylists, drag queens, and bargain hunters who paw through scarves, brooches, shoes, hats, and vintage Pucci dresses. With the current exchange rate miserably favoring the pound, this is one of the few shopping bargains to be had in London. Admission $6.
Chelsea Old Town Hall, King's Road, Chelsea. 011-44-20-7254-4054. frockmevintagefashion.com.
The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957
LONDON Jan. 6, 2008
The Victoria and Albert Museum looks at one of Europe's most important fashion eras: the postwar couture boom that saw the rise of such giants as Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, and Hubert de Givenchy. The exhibit includes several important original dresses, such as Dior's groundbreaking Bar suit and hat. There are also fashion photography, a series of talks from designers such as Ozwald Boateng (Nov. 4), and screenings of fashion-friendly films, such as "Funny Face" (Dec. 21), and "The Devil Wears Prada" (Jan. 4). Museum admission is free. Tickets to the exhibit are $18.
Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London. 011-44-20-7942-2000. vam.ac.uk.
Chic Chicago: Couture Treasures from the Chicago History Museum
NEW YORK Through Jan. 5, 2008 Clearly, residents of the Windy City were not shy about flaunting their wealth. They also knew something about fashion, as evidenced in this collection on display at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. The school's museum borrowed some of the finer haute couture from the Chicago History Museum that shows everything from 19th-century gowns worn by the city's elite, to more modern creations from Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel, and Lanvin that were all worn by Chicago's glitterati. Museum admission is free.
The Museum at FIT, Seventh Avenue at 27th Street, New York. 212-217-4558. fitnyc.edu/museum.
Matthew Williamson: 10 Years in Fashion
LONDON Through Feb. 24, 2008 His name may not be as familiar as Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld or Dior's John Galliano, but Matthew Williamson, creative director of Pucci, started an incredibly successful line of his own just 10 years ago with no financial backing. The Design Museum holds an exhibit celebrating Williamson's decade in fashion by displaying red carpet dresses that he designed for celebrities such as singer Kylie Minogue and actress Sienna Miller. Williamson's fashion sketchbooks, dating to his days as a student, are also on display. Exhibit admission is $14.
Design Museum, Shad Thames, London. 011-44-87-0833-9955. designmuseum.org.
Events are sometimes canceled, rescheduled, or sold out; call or check online to confirm. Christopher Muther can be reached at muther@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
