Fashion and Sports Paris – Review Mode et sport, d’un podium à l’autre

Paris – Fashion and Sports: From one Podium to Another Mode et sport, d’un podium à l’autre- Review – A thorough and educational exhibition with some great couture outfits.

When I was in Paris in February the Olympics was a hot topic of conversation – mostly complaints that all the tasks necessary meant everything wouldn’t be ready in time! The first torch will be lit on 4th April. But in the city itself, with just over a month to go, I saw no mention of it, other than this. Ironically the exhibition closes on 7th April just as the celebrations get going. But this is a great idea, and the collection of historical Olympic uniforms, some extremely cool, (I very much covet the jewel encrusted padded jacket designed by Violetta Ivanova for Yekaterina Aydova of Kazakhstan in the 2022 opening ceremony) alongside a separate large display of couture ensembles  inspired by or incorporating sportswear, will no doubt be a large draw.

The rest is an excellent, and very thorough survey of sportswear and brief history of sport which understandably focusses on the French contribution, featuring a ream of material to illustrate it as well as a few pieces by big names like Sonia Delaunay, Hermés, and Jeanne Lanvin. It is educational and engaging. The illustrations and posters in particular are charming. Innovations are highlighted. Some objects, like the 1937-8 ski googles designed by Hirsch & Cie, are so surprisingly futuristic. They could be from a collection today. Others, like the chunky knitted bathing suit for men from the 1920s, have you wondering how it seemed like a good idea.

Fashion and Sports Paris

Fashion and Sports. Image of exhibition at the Museé des Arts Décoratifs by Genevieve Jones

Fashion and Sports. Image of exhibition at the Museé des Arts Décoratifs by Genevieve Jones

Fashion and Sports. Image of exhibition at the Museé des Arts Décoratifs by Genevieve Jones

The exhibition begins with “Sports Before Sports”, subtitled, encouragingly, “Nudity, an athlete’s greatest asset”. The panel explains that the very word “Sport” is an anglicised form of the French word “desport” (entertainment), adopted in the 19th century by the English. However, sports and sporting events most assuredly existed before then. From the Ancient Greek games with their muscled, tanned and oiled and most importantly, nude athletes we get the image of the ideal athlete. So the text informs us. Although in fact, for some events they wore loin cloths or even togas. And the female athletes wore something akin to a bra as well.

However I think this may have just been a bit of an excuse to include a certainly quite eye boggling clothes mannequin from the Belgian designer Dirk Bikkembergs. This, all in white, does mirror the classical Greek statue of an athlete placed opposite. Except he has enormously muscled thighs and is hung like a horse. This is the third time lately I’ve seen exhibitions where white marble statues used to illustrate contemporary ideas in a compare and contrast kind of way. The first was in Fashioning Masculinities at the V& A, which I loved. The second time it was in Cult of Beauty at the Wellcome Collection, which I loved less. And again now. Time for some new ideas, I think.

Jousting and Tennis

Fashion and Sports Paris. Image of exhibition at the Museé des Arts Décoratifs by Genevieve Jones

OK, so, the show moves on to some sports which you might not think of as sports. Jousting. Here is a full suit of armour, which is proposed as one of the first sports clothes. I suppose it is! And riding, too. Horse riding, hunting, archery and fencing fencing were utilitarian pursuits that turned into hobbies. Of course, these hobbies were undertaken only by rich people, as poor people are too busy. And rich people need a change of clothing for everything, so special sports clothing rose up. Things like riding habits, made from slightly more sensible cotton and wool, rather than silk. Women also had special sports clothes, although they were very similar in shape and structure to every day clothes, with only slight changes for practicality.

And so on through tennis, cycling, football, swimming, skiing etc. I loved some of the early Victorian women’s cycling outfits. These silhouettes with corseted jacket, high necked blouse and tie (complete with tiny embroidered bicycle), baggy bloomers to the knee and tight spats on the calf are surely due for re-interpretation on the catwalk.

Fashion and Sports Paris – Couture and Sports

Costume designed by Violetta Ivanova for Yekaterina Aydova of Kazakhstan in the 2022 opening ceremony. Image Genevieve Jones.

It then opens out into its showpiece. This is a number of designer outfits arranged around on a mock running track. They include pieces by Commes Des Garçon, Off White, and Jean-Paul Gaulthier.

There are also outfits which have been worn in sporting events which caused controversy. This includes the black catsuit with a red waistband which Serena Williams wore to compete in the 2018 French Tennis Open. It was made for her by Nike. She has signed it for the exhibition. The outfit shocked the French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli. He unofficially banned it by commenting on it during an interview with Tennis Magazine right afterwards: “I think we sometimes went too far,” he said. “The combination of Serena this year, for example, it will no longer be accepted. You have to respect the game and the place.”

Williams herself explained that she had decided to wear more pants as a matter of comfort and health. It allowed her blood to flow more freely after continually suffering from blood clots. She was OK with the comments about her attire, but thousands of others weren’t. I personally think that that returning to the game after a difficult pregnancy and all the training that must have required shows plenty of respect to the sport. Whether she did in stylish but comfortable black lycra or in a short white pleated skirt has no bearing on it. It is a shame that in the display, the mannequin wearing it is not sculpted to Williams’s shape. She looked fantastic in it – like a superhero, many said – and here, it bags and wrinkles.

Informative

Fashion and Sports Paris. Image of exhibition at the Museé des Arts Décoratifs by Genevieve Jones

I liked the show and I think it is an ideal introduction to the subject. Each section is informative, interesting and funny, and the exhibition design by BGC Studio keeps it lively.

Mode et sport, d’un podium à l’autre – Fashion and Sports: From one Podium to Another was curated by Sophie Lemahieu, Keeper of the museum’s post-1947 Fashion and Textiles Collections. It is on until 7th April 2024 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

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