The Italian-French fashion designer’s work is on display to showcase the evolution of fashion from 1950-2000.
By Amanda Baptie
PARIS – The carpeted floors, the warm, perfumed air, and the hundreds of blank-faced mannequins muffle your senses as you walk into the Pierre Cardin Museum in Paris.
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An eye-catching piece of furniture that cannot be described as
simply a “chair” adds to the aesthetic of pushing boundaries that
is present throughout the museum.
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With the rest of the world fading into the background, Pierre Cardin’s clothing, jewelry and accessories are at the forefront of your mind; exactly what the museum intends. Located off the Hotel de Ville metro stop, at 5 Rue Saint-Merri, and through a brightly-lit courtyard, this four-story exhibit is the perfect place for tourists and local fashion-lovers.
The artistic style of Pierre Cardin is displayed on mannequins that line the ground floor of the museum. His brightly colored and highly structured designs were trendsetters, and visitors can readily see why. Experimentation with positive and negative space created garments that highlight his risk-taking in women’s and men’s clothing.
According to the museum’s narrative, Cardin’s father wanted him to be an architect, so he sculpted couture for which structure plays a more important role than femininity,
At first, visitors will be a little uneasy under the fluorescent lights. The atmosphere is dulled, with gray carpets and walls that stifle footsteps and inspire visitors to whisper to companions. The feeling of being completely alone in a room full of “people” is an odd one, but once you stop double-taking to make sure the mannequins didn’t move out of the corner of your eye, you can really enjoy the vibrant and bold designs.
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Four everyday, wearable outfits from 1966 that use color, shape,
and texture to give personality to the garment.
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The Art Deco furniture and accent pieces give the museum a frozen-in-time quality. Paired with the lounging mannequins in the basement, the atmosphere down there is that of an extravagant cocktail party. Groups of chic outfits chill next to golden half-moon tables. Around each corner, you expect to see a barman handing out bubbly champagne to the 1960’s metallic pink mini dress.
Funky love seats, the ones that seem impractical to sit on but that are old and worn, as if fancy posh bums have been lounging on them for decades, create foils to the more somber black one-piece jumpsuits in some of the basement rooms. Styles and colors are grouped together in the basement, regardless of year.
Visitors of the museum should be able to tell that each piece of clothing is immaculately well-preserved. From the heavy wool of the winter dresses on the first floor to the ruffled mesh red-carpet attire upstairs, Pierre Cardin’s love of and dedication to the art of fashion design is present throughout.
New pieces are occasionally brought out to accent the permanent ones from the museum’s 4,000-piece collection. The museum, although expensive 25 euros admission, should be worth it to fashion admirers. The museum is open Wednesday through Friday 11 am-6 pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 1 pm to 6 pm. There are no restrooms and no food for sale, and it is not wheelchair accessible. As there are no written descriptions of anything, visitors of all languages can enjoy the full experience of the museum.