Christian Lacroix on Fashion

"This is not a retrospective, but my own look at the costume collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, from which I chose pieces from all eras, some never before exhibited. I chose those that were most inspiring, those that best told the story of fashion that I would have wanted to tell if I were the museum curator that I intended to be when I was a student.

"My twenty years in the fashion business are another way of telling this story, and I selected the strongest designs from the haute couture collections of the House of Lacroix between 1987 and 2007, then arranged them according to themes--black and white, color, flowers, ethnic styles, and so forth--and linked them with pieces from the museum collection."--Christian Lacroix

Christian Lacroix is one of the most inventive and admired fashion designers in the world. He is also incredibly well-versed in fashion history, and he brings that expertise to bear in this delighful imaginary museum of historic and contemporary fashion. Each featured piece--whether from the museum's collection or the House of Lacroix--is distinguished by its cut, its detail, its color, and its texture; and the pieces are juxtaposed and photographed in a way that emphasizes their relationships across the centuries.