Calendars at the ready: this September marks the opening of the seminal new Marie Antoinette exhibition at the V&A, the UK’s first-ever show dedicated to the legendary French monarch. Following on from the museum’s blockbuster Gabrielle Chanel exhibition in 2023 and this year’s glittering Cartier show, Marie Antoinette Style will explore the origin story and countless revivals of the style shaped by the most fashionable queen of all time. Here’s everything you need to know about the V&A’s Marie Antoinette exhibition this autumn.
There’s no doubt she’s one of the most famous fashion icons of all time – so it’s rather surprising it’s taken this long for the UK to get its own dedicated Marie Antoinette exhibition. Described as an early modern ‘celebrity’, the French queen’s two-decade reign reshaped the worlds of 18th-century fashion and design.
From her extravagant pastel gowns and sky-high powdered wigs to dazzling jewels and ornate rococo furnishings, her influence on fashion and pop culture linger to this day, with everyone from Alexander McQueen to Sofia Coppola captivated by her unique aesthetic. The show explores just how and why she has remained such a lasting style icon.
Visitors to the V&A’s Marie Antoinette exhibition in London will get to explore over 250 objects, including several exceptional loans never seen before outside the Palace of Versailles and France. You’ll get the chance to see a range of rare personal items owned and worn by Marie Antoinette herself, including the Queen’s own silk slippers, richly embellished fragments of court dress, jewels from her extensive private collection and the final note she wrote in her life.
The exhibition will also take a closer look at Marie Antoinette’s lasting legacy and the cultural impact of her style, exploring why designers today remain fascinated by her one-of-a-kind look. Contemporary couture pieces by designers such as Chanel, Dior, Vivienne Westwood, Valentino and Moschino are displayed throughout the show, alongside costumes made for screen. Perhaps the most famous of these are the pieces created for Sofia Coppola’s Oscar-winning film Marie Antoinette, starring Kirsten Dunst. You’ll be able to see the sumptuous gowns from the film, as well as shoes designed by Manolo Blahnik for the project.
Experts at putting together truly immersive fashion exhibitions, the show will be brought to life through brilliant theatrical staging and sensory experiences, designed to showcase how the Queen has exerted an influence over more than two and a half centuries of graphic and decorative arts, fashion, photography, film and performance. One particular highlight to look out for includes a scent experience that re-creates the scents of the court and the perfume favoured by Marie Antoinette herself.
“The most fashionable, scrutinised and controversial queen in history, Marie Antoinette’s name summons both visions of excess and objects and interiors of great beauty,” said Sarah Grant, Curator of Marie Antoinette Style. “The Austrian archduchess turned Queen of France had an enormous impact on European taste and fashion in her own time, creating a distinctive style that now has universal appeal and application. This exhibition explores that style and the figure at its centre, using a range of exquisite objects belonging to Marie Antoinette, alongside the most beautiful fine and decorative objects that her legacy has inspired. The rare combination of glamour, spectacle and tragedy she presents remains as intoxicating today as it was in the eighteenth century.”
‘Marie Antoinette Style’ opens Saturday 20 September at the V&A Museum
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