A decisive step in the history of contemporary fashion which saw, at the turn of the new millennium, the chessboard of current fashion being drawn, the year 1997 made a splash on the catwalks and left a lasting mark on people's minds.
Let us recall the shock of Comme des Garçons' introduction of distorted bodies with the "Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body" collection, the disruptive minimalism of Martin Margiela's "Stockman" collection, or the post-rock tidal wave of Raf Simons. A veritable "Big Bang" that Paris needed to regain its leading position, according to the magazine French Vogue1997 marked the entry into haute couture of Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler, star designers of the 1980s, but also the arrival on the scene of Alexander McQueen (at Givenchy) and John Galliano (at Christian Dior), who would bring a new wind of sultry and very British extravagance to the major French fashion houses…
1997 was also the year that saw the emergence of names that still shape fashion today: Hedi Slimane, Stella McCartney, Nicolas Ghesquière, Olivier Theyskens… and the inauguration of the concept store colette, which will be "the epicenter of fashion for twenty years"...
An "explosive" vintage that the Palais Galliera invites us to savor through delightful evocations and reconstructions: the launch of Thierry Mugler's "Insects" collection, the creation of U2's costumes for their world tour by the highly transgressive Walter Van Beirendonck, and those for the film Le Cinquième élément Luc Besson's film by Jean-Paul Gaultier, whose highly theatrical collection that year marked the return of opulence and spectacle after the reign of minimalism. Another shockwave: Björk dressed by Alexander McQueen for the cover of her album Homogeneouswhere she appears as a multi-ethnic warrior "with love as her only weapon"... Or the distorted silhouettes drawn by Rei Kawakubo for the pioneer of abstract dance, Merce Cunningham, and his ballet Screenwriting presented in October at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York.
“1997 Fashion Big Bang” – Palais Galliera
Until July 16
10, avenue Pierre-1er-from Serbia, Paris 16e
France
Stéphanie Dulout
