Three Must-See Fashion Museums During a Quick Trip to Paris
If you are planning to visit the French capital soon, you cannot leave the city without checking out some of its well-known places for learning about fashion history and renowned designers. Therefore, you should consider visiting the following museums to truly appreciate fashion in the city where Haute Couture was born.
1. La Galerie Dior
It is located in the 8th arrondissement at 30 Avenue Montaigne, where Christian Dior first inaugurated his studio. It has always been the heart of the maison since its opening in 1946 and it was recently transformed and reopened to honor the life of Christian Dior. Also, besides providing an immersive experience into the entire Dior universe, visitors get the chance to discover some of the most distinctive pieces created by Monsieur Dior himself and by his six successors as creative directors of the fashion house: Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri, who leads the label since 2016.
2. Musée Yves Saint Laurent
This museum was opened in 2017 to honour the life and creations of one of the most talented couturiers of the 20th century: Yves Saint Laurent. Even though it was only inaugurated five years ago, the building where it is located is an integral part of the designer's path, as it is where his former haute couture house was. At 5 Avenue Morceau, Yves Saint Laurent spent almost thirty years creating his legendary collections.
Today, visitors can learn about the inspirations behind the designer's work. They can visit some temporary exhibitions that are installed to celebrate important pieces and milestones in his artistic life. For instance, at this moment, there is an exhibition that commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Maison's first couture show. Visitors will go through an immersive experience around patterns, fabrics, prototypes, and sketches that connect fashion with the visual arts.
3. Palais Galliera
Last but not least, you cannot plan a fashionable trip to Paris without visiting its iconic fashion history museum. Palais Galliera, also known as Musée de la mode de la Ville de Paris, is located at 10 Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie in a stunning palace built in the 19th century. It was first opened as an industrial and modern art museum and transformed into a fashion museum in 1977. However, it remained closed for several years due to renovations. Finally, after undergoing various name changes, it reopened its doors in 2013 as Palais Galliera.
Nowadays, it has a collection of over 250,000 fashion garments and accessories. In addition, it displays different exhibitions regarding French fashion and costume history from the 18th century to the present day to show how fashion has evolved throughout these centuries.
