Museum of Lace to present ‘Haute Dentelle’

The Museum of Lace and Fashion in Calais, France is following up on the success of its exhibitions dedicated to Hubert de Givenchy, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Anne Valérie Hash and Iris van Herpen with an exhibition offering unique insight into contemporary uses of lace woven on Leavers looms by fashion designers.

Entitled ‘Haute Dentelle’, which translates to Designer Lace, will run from June 8, 2018 to January 6, 2019, and will focus on the dialogue between lace houses and fashion houses, revealing the creative partnerships as well as the versatility of lace woven on a mechanical lace machine.

Curated by Sylvie Marot, the exhibition will feature more than 60 lace designs from the latest haute couture and designer prêt-à-porter shows, from thirteen fashion houses: Alberta Ferretti, Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Iris van Herpen, Louis Vuitton, Maison Margiela, Schiaparelli, Valentino, Viktor and Rolf, Yiqing Yin, and Zuhair Murad.

The exhibition will highlight the importance of lace in fashion design, as well as the best of hand techniques vs the best of machine techniques, and how lace being synonymous with being delicate and fragile is an illusion and that the woven texture is unravelable.

The 2017 exhibition at the Museum of Lace and Fashion was a retrospective on Hubert de Givenchy, curated by the 90-year-old fashion designer, featuring looks worn by the likes of Audrey Hepburn, former First Lady Jackie Kennedy and the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson. The Hubert de Givenchy exhibition runs until December 31.

‘Haute Dentelle’ opens on June 8, 2018.

Image: courtesy of The Museum of Lace and Fashion