Secrets of Couture
26 January—8 April 2018
Previous exhibition
26 January—8 April 2018
Sven-Harrys Konstmuseum opens the winter-spring 2018 season with the exhibition Secrets of Couture. This exhibition highlights the mythical haute couture fashion and its role in today's fashion climate, and also looks at the possible future orientation of couture. Presenting international fashion designers such as Balmain, Castillo, Louis Vuitton and Stéphane Rolland, and Swedish designers such as Pär Engsheden and Bea Szenfeld, the exhibition explores the secrets of couture and gives visitors unique insights into the processes that usually take place behind closed doors. Many garments that have been worn by prominent Swedish women, arts celebrities and pioneers in their fields (from Selma Lagerlöf to the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Sara Danius) will be featured. A centrepiece of the exhibition is the gown Sara Danius wore at the Nobel ceremony in 2015, created by Pär Engsheden.
With pieces borrowed from private collections, international fashion houses and the Swedish and Danish royal families, the exhibition seeks to give an overview of the history and future of the secret world of couture. One of the basic ideas for the exhibition is to raise issues on the relevance of couture in today's fashion climate, and how traditional craftsmanship can be combined with future demands on sustainability and new materials. This is explored with young designers, and especially in a collaboration with the Beckmans College of Design. Under the auspices of Pär Engsheden, eleven students have created outfits that give an idea of how future designers interpret couture as a craft and expressive medium.
The exhibition was designed by a team that has worked for three years on the conceptual structure and contents. The team includes Pär Engsheden, Ingrid Giertz-Mårtenson and Ulrika Kyaga. The exhibition's creative directors are Pär Engsheden and Ingrid Giertz-Mårtenson. Ulrika Kyaga is a guest curator and editor of the exhibition catalogue.
Featured fashion houses and designers
Balenciaga, Stéphane Rolland, Louis Vuitton, Jacques Zehnder, Jørgen Bender, Castillo, Balmain, Augusta Lundin, Pär Engsheden, Ida Sjöstedt, Bea Szenfeld,Sarah Hayes & Aspar Karahyuseinov – H&M
Participating students from Beckmans Collage of Design
Amanda Borgfors Meszaros, Julia Correia de Verdier, Dat Dahn, Felicia Halén Fredell, Marie Isacsson, Matilda Ivarsson, Anastasia Jansäter, Robert Jonsson, Joonas Karhumaa, Sissel Kärneskog, Antonia Larsson Pihl
