Paris Haute Couture

The first exhibition at SLAM dedicated to women’s fashion since 1979, Paris Haute Couture celebrates couture’s enduring role in fostering technical innovation, preserving craft knowledge, and pursuing fantasy and spectacle. 

Featuring more than 85 exceptional garments from legendary fashion houses—including Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Schiaparelli, and Jean Paul Gaultier—as well as photographs, illustrations, ephemera, and accessories, Paris Haute Couture traces the evolution of an industry that has attracted creative and ambitious minds to France from across the globe. Drawn from the renowned collections of the Palais Galliera, many of these masterpieces are on view for the first time. 

The exhibition explores the art and craft of French haute couture, from its origins in the late 19th century to the present. It traces an industry that has continually evolved and adapted—reflecting the changing roles of women in society, the relationship between art and fashion, and the economic and political shifts of the past century. 

Although Paris has been recognized throughout Europe as a center of luxury crafts since the 17th century, the exhibition begins in the 19th century. That’s when English-born Charles Frederick Worth transformed luxury fashion. He was the first dressmaker to present his own finished designs in seasonal collections, shown on live models in his salon rather than mannequins—practices that would become central to haute couture. With Worth, the couturier became a creative authority rather than a supplier fulfilling clients’ requests. 

The success of the House of Worth inspired the growth of couture houses across Paris. Combining the efficiency of the sewing machine with meticulous handiwork, ateliers brought together embroiderers, feather workers, pleaters, and other specialized artisans to create complex garments that integrated multiple techniques. Paris Haute Couture explores the golden ages of haute couture following World Wars I and II; its crises during the economic depression of the 1930s, the German occupation of Paris, and the ascendency of ready-to-wear in the 1960s; and its renewal beginning in the late 1980s, when young, often international designers took the helm of storied French firms. 

Throughout the galleries, historic works are paired with contemporary pieces—many fresh off the runway—inviting visitors to consider both rupture and continuity.

The exhibition is conceived by the Palais Galliera, Fashion Museum of Paris, Paris Musées, and organized by the Saint Louis Art Museum and Minneapolis Institute of Art.