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In the world of fashion, no other material stirs the imagination quite like the feather. Symbol of elegance and sophistication feathers have long been used in ceremonial gowns, haute couture garments and in the magnificent evening dresses worn by the stars of stage and screen.
MOMU, the Fashion Museum Province of Antwerp presents “Plumes & Feathers in Fashion”, an exhibition that runs from the 20th of March till the 24th of August highlighting the use of plumes and feathers in fashion and providing an overview of the most important epochs in its history.This use was primarily to be seen in the 19th and 20th century. Feathers were then used for collars until the 1960s when Cristóbal Balenciaga and later on also Yves Saint Laurent started using feathers to cover entire dresses.
To date, many fashion designers continue to use feathers in numerous creations. They are also popular in film costumes and fashion photography because of their graphic qualities and the playful, seductive touch they bring to the person wearing them.
“Plumes & Feathers in Fashion”addresses different aspects of feathers use; refinement, luxury, freedom, modernism, femininity, lightness, but also lost innocence and dark romance. The Parisian fashion house Lemarié, specialised in processing plumes primarily for French Haute Couture since 1880, cooperated closely with the museum showcasing a selection of individual feathers and feather compositions.
The introduction to the exhibition is a painting by Melchior d’Hondecoeter, which is presented next to a tableau with 23 stuffed birds from the collection of the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences in Brussels. It primarily displays birds of which the feathers are exhibited in the exhibition.
The opening gown of this exhibition was designed by Thierry Mugler. A huge butterfly is suggested by means of feathers in the open back of the dress creating a link between the butterfly, the woman and the bird, in a surreal creation that emphasises the woman’s uniqueness and exotic nature.
Alexander McQueen was fascinated by birds in flight since childhood, he says: “Birds in flight fascinate me. I admire eagles and falcons. I am inspired by a feather’s shape but also its color, its graphics, its weightlessness and its engineering. It’s so elaborate. In fact I try and transpose the beauty of a bird to women.” Dramatic oeuvre of the British designer is on display in the exhibition.
The British sculptor Kate MccGwire who primarily works with pigeon and crow feathers, has some of her works on display. Not just beautiful, her works also force viewers to question their own outlook on life.
Since her first show in Paris in 1991 feathers have played a major role in Ann Demeulemeester work. For her, they stand for freedom, humbleness and poetry. Selected few silhouettes that highlight her use of feathers in different ways can also be admired in the exhibition.
The showpiece of this exhibition is Marlene Dietrich’s swan down coat. She first wore it in 1957 at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas and numerous times thereafter in the 1960s. The feathers of over 300 swans were needed to make the coat, which was 360 cm long from collar to tail. www.momu.be
