RIGA, latvia — the Fashion Museum in Riga opened an exhibition on April 18 showcasing the influential Art Deco design movement of the 1920s and 30s. The exhibition features costumes crafted by Parisian couturiers and accessories, illustrating Art Deco’s impact on fashion.
The exhibition includes garments and accessories from the Alexander Vassiliev Foundation collection, the Fashion Museum’s holdings, and the Riga Museum of History and Navigation. This year marks the centennial of the 1925 International exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, which gave Art deco its name and influenced architecture, interior design, fashion, and graphic design for decades.
According to fashion historian and collector Alexander Vassiliev, “Art deco’s rise coincided with the emergence of a new silhouette and a new type of female beauty. The curvaceous ladies of the early century were replaced by slender,emancipated young women with short haircuts,and the new fashions were designed specifically for them.The straight, beaded ‘Charleston’ dresses of the 1920s became one of the symbols of Art Deco. I am delighted that many of them will be on display at the exhibition, which the Fashion Museum and I have been planning for a long time. By the way, the exhibition will feature many premieres, with several outstanding exhibits from my collection that have never been shown before.”
The Fashion Museum highlights that the exhibition features both garments and names of famous Parisian couturiers and influential fashion figures. Visitors can view designs by Paul Poiret, known as the “king of fashion,” Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, and Jeanne Lanvin. The exhibition also showcases designs from Chanel’s rivals, Jean Patou and Elsa Schiaparelli. A stage costume, “Golden Dance Angel,” designed by the designer Erté, will demonstrate Art Deco theatricality.
“Art Deco is very recognizable and, most importantly, relevant today,” said Natalia Muzichkina, head of the Fashion Museum. “Luminous fabrics and sequined garments are back in fashion. But it is not just about fabrics. In times of crisis and instability, we are paying special attention to culture. the modern captivation with TV shows is similar to the enthusiasm for cinema in the 1930s. People sought to escape the cruelty and disarray of the world into the romanticized and harmonious world of cinema. Today, we see crowded concert halls, beautiful exhibitions, lectures, and other events. This is an understandable and respectable reaction to what is happening in the world. Beauty will not save the world, but it can change it for the better, ‘improve morals,’ as they used to say.”
Art Deco blended various influences, including modern art movements like Cubism and Suprematism, and interests in ancient Egypt, Japan, China, and Central America. It was also a reaction to the chaos of war, seeking symmetry, stability, luxury, and a “perpetual holiday” atmosphere. The development of industry and technology led to a preference for metallic shine,fast cars,and functional buildings.
“One of the exhibition’s themes is brilliance — metallic fabrics and lace used extensively in Art Deco fashion, the smooth sheen of satin, and elaborate geometric beadwork and sequin embroidery,” said Agrita Grīnvalde, one of the exhibition’s curators. “Visitors can appreciate both the tunic-type dresses and evening cloaks of the 1920s and the elegant late Art Deco evening dresses of the 1930s.”
The exhibition also displays the influence of distant lands on Art Deco fashion, featuring Egyptian motifs inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and reflections of China and japan.
The Fashion museum, dedicated to fashion history in the Baltics, opened in October 2016 in Riga’s Old Town at Grēcinieku iela 24.
