Welcome to the Louvre Shop

As a historical landmark and an immense treasure chest where the world's aesthetics converge, the Louvre inspires many creative worlds. It is to the world of fashion, which is so fond of looking to art, that it has opened its doors for an exhibition in the form of a dialogue.

To maintain a certain coherence without getting lost in the immensity of the Louvre's collections, it was decided to approach the subject through the lens of the history of decorative styles, crafts and ornamentation. Thus, the Louvre Couture exhibition unfolds in the galleries and rooms of the Objets d'art department. Here, fashion is brought to life in 65 contemporary silhouettes and some thirty accessories. The story unfolds from Byzantium to the Second Empire, and the pieces on loan from the great couture houses of Paris and beyond, both ancient and contemporary, are brought into dialogue with the objects and ornaments from which they are inspired, and to which they echo.

Louvre Couture aims to highlight the links between two worlds, as well as the participation of men and women of the fashion world, from Jacques Doucet to Madame Carven, whose generosity has contributed to the development of the department's collections. Finally, it is an opportunity to take a fresh look at the museum's objets d'art, as well as at the creations of the great names in contemporary fashion.

The fascinating figure of the fool, an integral part of medieval visual culture, has been studied in terms of social and cultural history but rarely from the perspective of art history, even though the idea of madness inspired and stimulated literary and artistic creativity from the thirteenth to the mid-sixteenth century from the 13th century to the mid-16th century.

This ambitious, thought-provoking exhibition will approach the typically medieval figure of the fool through its imagery. Over 300 works of art - sculpture, objets d'art (ivory, boxes, small bronzes), medals, illuminations, drawings, prints, panel paintings and tapestries - will be displayed according to period and theme.