The Ultimate Fashion Icon Gets Her Due: Marie Antoinette Style Exhibition
Portrait de Marie-Antoinette à la rose, Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun © Château de Versailles
This September, fashion devotees will have the chance to step into the opulent world of history's most controversial style icon when the V&A South Kensington opens Marie Antoinette Style, the UK's first exhibition dedicated to the French queen whose influence on fashion spans over 250 years.
The exhibition promises to be a feast for the senses, featuring 250 extraordinary objects including never-before-seen loans from the Château de Versailles. Visitors will encounter Marie Antoinette's own silk slippers, fragments of her richly embellished court dresses, and jewels from her private collection – intimate artifacts that bring us closer to understanding the woman behind the legend.
But this will not be just a historical retrospective. The exhibition will trace Marie Antoinette's remarkable evolution from 18th-century trendsetter to eternal muse, showcasing how her aesthetic continues to captivate contemporary designers. Couture pieces by Moschino, Dior, Chanel, Erdem, Vivienne Westwood, and Valentino will demonstrate her enduring influence on modern fashion, while costumes and Manolo Blahnik shoes from Sofia Coppola's Oscar-winning film Marie Antoinette will highlight her impact on popular culture.
One slipper belonging to Marie Antoinette beaded pink silk. Photo: CC0 Paris Musées
The exhibition's chronological journey will begin with "The Origins of a Style," exploring how the Austrian archduchess transformed European taste during her reign from 1770 to 1793. Among the highlights will be a replica of the infamous Boehmer and Bassenge diamond necklace from the scandal that helped seal her fate, displayed alongside the Sutherland diamond necklace believed to contain stones from the original.
Perhaps most poignantly, visitors will see the final note Marie Antoinette wrote before her execution, penned on a blank page of her prayer book – a haunting reminder of the tragedy that cemented her legendary status.
The second section will reveal how Empress Eugénie sparked a Marie Antoinette revival in the mid-1800s, creating what became known as the "French Revival" style that dominated British and American interiors for decades. The exhibition will then explore how her image evolved through Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, embodying both escapist fantasy and decadent excess.
The final section promises to be particularly relevant for contemporary fashion enthusiasts, examining how Marie Antoinette's aesthetic continues to inspire everything from haute couture to music videos. Photographs by Tim Walker and Robert Polidori will showcase her ongoing influence on fashion photography and visual culture.
Adding to the immersive experience, a specially created scent installation will recreate the fragrances of Versailles, including the queen's own preferred perfume – allowing visitors to literally breathe in the atmosphere of 18th-century court life.
Kate Moss, Fashion. Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Julian d'Ys, The Ritz, Paris 2012. © Tim Walker-2
As curator Sarah Grant notes, Marie Antoinette remains "the most fashionable, scrutinised, and controversial queen in history," whose story continues to be retold by each generation. This exhibition promises to reveal why her particular blend of "glamour, spectacle, and tragedy" remains as intoxicating today as it was three centuries ago.
