Words by Rachel Hambly

eds. Mistral Zerbi

In the halls of the V&A in London, visitors walk through immersive displays of Chanel’s iconic black dresses and sculptural ball gowns from Dior. But this time, these items are not lit by runway lights, but by a soft museum glow. On the other side of the Channel, Paris’s Palais Galliera pays homage to Frida Kahlo’s radical wardrobe. At the same time, Milan’s Triennale Museum dives into the future of fashion with speculative installations and digital couture. What was once seen and dismissed as frivolous or commercial is now a fixture of major cultural institutions; fashion has entered the museum.

The past two decades have witnessed the dramatic rise of fashion exhibitions, which are dazzling, academically robust, and wildly popular. From Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the Met to Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams at the V&A, these showcases do more than attract large audiences. They are reframing fashion as a legitimate form of cultural expression. In the process, they transform how we experience both art and fashion and draw in new audiences to the fashion world.

A lineup of mannequins showing off McQueen’s innovation and ahead-of-his-time ideas for fashion.

For much of the 20th century, fashion in museums was on the sidelines, displayed in small rooms, or under the category of “costume,” which can be accurate, but can also have incorrect connotations. Most major art institutions did not prioritize the exhibition of garments or designers, and few art critics took fashion seriously as an artistic or intellectual endeavor.

Diana Vreeland’s curation of the exhibition *Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design*.

This began to change in the 1970s and 1980s, with the influence of Diana Vreeland. In 1938, Vreeland, the former editor of Vogue, changed the Met’s Costume Institute with her exhibition Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design. Known for her flair for theatricality, Vreeland staged fashion not as a passive artifact but as a living and moving drama. With mood lighting, wall texts, and themed galleries, she helped create a curatorial model that treated fashion on par with fine art. Her legacy continued with La Belle Époque, The Glory of Russian Costume, and The Manchu Dragon, all of which framed garments in cultural and historical narratives.

The exhibition that proved a change in the viewpoint on fashion was in 2011, with Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the Met. Bringing in over 650,000 visitors, it was one of the museum’s most visited exhibitions ever, and the first to feature fashion on such a grand and immersive scale. The exhibition not only honored McQueen’s genius in his fusion of gothic romanticism, historical references, and technological innovation, but also proved fashion could provoke thought, just like every other art form.

Since Savage Beauty, fashion exhibitions have become a permanent staple in museum programming worldwide. They draw massive audiences and media attention, providing Instagram-ready experiences that appeal to digitally focused generations. These shows are highly shareable. A scroll through TikTok or Instagram reveals thousands of posts documenting museum-goers in immersive fashion spaces. Social media may be flattening some museum experiences, but it is also making fashion history accessible and cool to a new generation. For many attendees, a fashion exhibition is their entry point into the museum world. It can lead them to explore other forms of art, architecture, and design.

A breathtaking installation set up at the *Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams* exhibit at the V&A.

One example of an exhibit that attracted attention from both in-person attendees as well as social media feeds everywhere was the Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition, which ran from 2017 to 2020, travelling through museums all over the world. The exhibition stands as a class in curatorial storytelling. Initially created by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and later for the V&A in London, the exhibition examined over seventy years of Dior’s history through an expertly curated array of garments, sketches, accessories, and photography. Each room was designed as a distinct thematic universe from the “Garden Room,” filled with floral motifs and real greenery highlighting Dior’s love of nature, to the “Ballroom,” a cathedral-like space of soft lighting and mirrored walls where gowns shimmered under a starry ceiling. More than an exhibition, Designer of Dreams was an experience, one that allowed visitors to view couture and the emotional resonance that came along with it.

A room in the *Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams* exhibit in Seoul, Korea, at the OMA Museum.

The rise of museum fashion exhibitions also speaks to luxury fashion’s mission. As the runway becomes more and more commercialized, the museum offers something else: credibility. Exhibiting in a major institution allows brands to align themselves with history, artistry, and permanence. But, as museums partner with fashion houses, the lines between scholarship and sponsorship become blurry. Are these exhibitions unbiased explorations of fashion history, or are they brand deals posing as cultural critique? The answer likely lies somewhere in between.

These museum exhibitions also pose another question: Is fashion art? This question has been around for decades, but is still debated over today, and the rise of fashion in museums is shifting the conversation. Increasingly, institutions are recognizing fashion as a reflection of the time, as well as a way to challenge norms and express dignity; all themes that museums focus on. Fashion’s relationship to the body, to movement, to politics, and to time makes it a uniquely hybrid form. It is personal yet public. Its very refusal to sit comfortably in one category is perhaps what makes it so perfect for reevaluation.

A display of Rei Kawaubo’s designs for Comme Des Garçons, held at the Met in New York City.

The museumification of fashion is more than a trend. It challenges us to see garments not just as products, but as narratives, artworks, and artifacts of their time. As curators and designers continue to collaborate, the future of fashion in museums looks expensive and exciting. We may soon see more exhibitions devoted to underrepresented designers, non-Western fashion histories, and even virtual fashion experiences in digital or VR installations. But, at its core, this movement is about recognition. Recognition that fashion matters. Not just to style icons or industry insiders, but to culture, to history, and to how we see ourselves. In the end, the front row still holds power, but the museum floor is where fashion truly finds its voice through the viewer.

Are Museums the New Front Row?