The rider on the silver horse lit up the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, riding up the Seine with unforgettable grace. Her outfit is on display at the Palais Galliera in Paris' 16th arrondissement from Saturday as part of the third hanging of the Fashion in Motion collections exhibition (until October 12)A unique piece that is the pride of the museum, as Marie-Laure Gutton, curator of the exhibition, tells us.
FrancsJeux : Can you present the Fashion in Motion project?
Marie-Laure Gutton : This is a collections exhibition, a format that presents a history of fashion through a specific theme – here, the relationship between clothing, the body and movement. We follow a history of the silhouette and, for each period, we have clothes that are linked to the practice of a physical or sporting activity. We try to address the question of constraint, or on the contrary freedom of movement, through clothing. There is a double reading between the daily wardrobe, what we will wear every day, and the way in which this clothing will adapt, specialize, become more technical, and enter into everyday wardrobes over the centuries.
The second part of the exhibition, for example, presented a jersey of the French football team with the name of Kylian Mbappé on it. What made this piece relevant?
It will always be there! This is a bit like the conclusion of the chronological journey. We start with a display case dedicated to the 18th century which shows that originally, physical practice was done with everyday clothing. Little by little, this clothing became specialized, shortened, technical materials appeared and we saw the emergence of clothing dedicated to the practice of sport. The opposite phenomenon also took place: sports, technical clothing, was going to be used in everyday life. This football jersey, a technical garment worn by players, was also worn in the street by non-sportspeople who wore it as everyday clothing, without using the technicality of the clothing, but for what it represents.
What distinguishes the third part of the exhibition from the two previous ones?
We had focused on seaside resorts, sea bathing and swimming during our second exhibition. This time, it is a focus on winter sports. We show the evolution of outfits from the end of the 20th century to the present day. In particular, there is a resort outfit from the end of the 30th century, which could be worn for skating or more likely for sledding, a very beautiful series of clothes from the XNUMX's and XNUMX's, the period when ski resorts were emerging, and ice skates from the very beginning of the XNUMXth century. We are renewing the works a lot, with some loans from the National Museum of Sports or the Alaïa Foundation.
Not forgetting the outfit of the rider for the Paris 2024 opening ceremony!
Indeed, we are fortunate to have included in our collections the rider from the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. She opens the tour in the introductory display case. It seemed important to us to highlight her and open the theme with this piece, which has become an emblem of the Paris Games. It creates a link between this sporting, Olympic world, which has a very strong international influence, and the world of fashion, particularly Parisian fashion. It is the work of a young designer, Jeanne Friot, and a leather craftsman, Robert Mercier, who are at the forefront of Parisian fashion and who find themselves here in an international sporting and event context. It is a piece that has left such a mark on the ceremony, it has become iconic. We saw it on the Seine and at the Trocadéro, facing the Eiffel Tower, there is an extremely strong link with Paris. We are very happy to be able to present it.
"It is a piece that, by the symbol and by the creation itself, is remarkable. Something spectacular shines through this silhouette. With the Olympic flag flying on its back, it is extremely strong in meaning and fashion."
Did she catch your eye right from the opening ceremony?
Yes, because it is both very contemporary, through the materials, through this look, and full of references to a historical figure, to something linked to armor. It is very significant for the creation of Jeanne Friot. It is a piece which, through the symbol and through the creation itself, is remarkable. Something spectacular shines through this silhouette. With the Olympic flag flying on her back, it is extremely strong in meaning and fashion.
Were the negotiations difficult to be able to present it?
My colleague did that very well! Different museums positioned themselves to include pieces related to the Games in their collections, so we had to reach an agreement. We were in discussions with Paris 2024, who saw the benefit of including this piece in a public collection. We are a museum of the city of Paris, our collections are municipal, so having this piece that embodies Paris 2024, which circulated on stage, was loaded with meaning. The positive response came in December. We thought it was important to have something from Paris 2024, especially since the Fashion in Motion exhibition was designed to respond to this Olympic Games event.
Beyond this outfit, do you think that the 2024 Olympic Games were inspiring for fashion?
There was a real international emulation in the heart of Paris. We saw an artistic bias during the ceremony. An important place was left to fashion creation with, for example, Jeanne Friot or Germanier. Obviously, this event had an impact on fashion, because it had an impact on Paris and Paris is intrinsically linked to this history of fashion and to contemporary fashion. These Olympic Games have nourished many things.
