1. april 2000 - 30 july 20000
Musée Galiera - Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris 10 avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie France - 75116 Paris

next>>>

The Development of Knits
Knits, prevalent until then in the manufacturing of under garments and sports clothes, tend to be substituted warp and woof into daily outerwear. The diffusion of knits encourages the emergence of new clothing like the seamless stocking, the one-piece slip, seamless pullovers, and the invisible bra. Even a man's suit is knitted ... Italian manufacturers and designers (Missoni, Nanni Strada ... ) prove to be the most innovative. The distribution of knits encourages an anthropomorphic approach to clothing shapes. Stockings or slips follows the body's curves and mold like a "second

Some exposed models:
Nanni Strada, One-piece seamless garment, woven on a specially-designed machine, 1974 (coll. N. Strada) Yves Saint Laurent, Woven "Pop Art" Dress, AH 1966-67, (coll. Association for the Distribution of the Work of Mr. Yves Saint Laurent) Sonia Rykiel, Pullover, AH 1971-72 Called the technician of the jersey stitch, Sonia Rykiel literally turns women's fashion inside-out, layering garments, etc

From a selection of largely eclectic lingerie, we will notice the first bra with elastic straps launched by Warner in 1964 (coll. Warner); coordinated, multicolored, whimsical ensembles from Huit (197 1, coll. Huit) and from Mary Quant (1972-73, Museum of London).

The Transfers of Technology The Years 1975 - 2000
The Transfers and Diversions of Technology Become Widespread
Fashion innovates itself with the mixing of styles. It smashes traditional garment categories drawing distinctions between sports clothes, hospital scrubs, military uniforms, and astronaut suits taking a practical cut here, protective or insulating fabrics there. This part of the exposition proposes to explore some of these blends practiced today in fashion, drawing spectacular creations from the most specialized techniques. Four documentary aids or "totems" mark off this space. Films, CD ROMs, and samples of textiles and of perfume ingredients (Dragoco) invite a sensual discovery of materials.

From sports, we will take the omnipresence of elasthanne, an elastic synthetic fiber sold commercially under the name Lycra by Du Pont de Nemours or Dorlastan by Bayer. Marc Audibet proposes, from 1984, leopard-print bodysuits realized in bi-extendible material, in other words, material which stretches in the warp and in the woof. This section also juxtaposes the volume of down with emptiness, found either in an air pocket inserted in the soles of basketball sneakers (Nike Air, 1979), or in the fibers themselves (Adidas, outerwear made with Coolmax hollow polyester fibers, 1996).

From the medical world and germproof surgery environments in particular, we find clothing (Boudicca, André Walker) or accessories with a wide variety of qualities: anti-bacterial, auto-massaging, relaxing, hydrating, perfuming, skin tanning or protective...

The automobile inspires the most unusual variety of fashion mutations. Paco Rabanne has assembled reflectors taken from bicycles. Thierry Mugler proposes a strapless "Harley Davidson" bra in plexiglas, and a "tire" outfit, whose streamlined and dynamic allure feed the imagination. Lastly, JeanCharles de Castelbajac, in the manner of a street signal, borrows a reflective material called Reflexite.

Aeronautics and aerospace science research has always aroused the interest of fashion designers. On 21 July 1969, astronauts Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong wore uniforms composed of 21 layers of high-tech tissues, 20 of which were synthetic, on the moon's surface.

Elisabeth de Senneville re-uses an engine-insulating tissue. In 1998, Damart commercialized an American technology of phase-changing microcapsules (Outlast@) in France. These microcapsules contain chemical elements, capable of changing states, which can store ambient heat by liquefying themselves and release it by re-solidifying themselves. The tissue therefore heats up without an external energy source.

Military equipment is far from being the least exploited area by the fashion world. We already know the trench coat, the safari jacket, and others. The exhibition points out the theme of protection in two ways: camouflage (evening dresses by Valentino, Koji Tatsuno, and Sonja Nuttal ... ), and the use of highly resistant fibers like Kevlar (Du Pont de Nemours) in articles such as bulletproof vests. A textile installation by the artist Sheila Hicks, "Back From The Front", completes this section.

Recyclables
The increase of textile and clothing consumption also questions textiles at the beginning as well as at the end of their life cycle. The industrial recycling of mineral water bottles permits the realization of pullovers (Charles Dubourg) or bras (Triumph Japan). In the 1990's, designers accurately raise the problems of re-use, recuperation, and ecology. They draw from army surplus or flea markets (Franck Sorbier, Martin Margiela). Designers, as well as industrial clothing makers, (Olivier Guillemin, Patagonia, Palladium ... ) use "clean" fibers like organic cotton cultivated without fertilizer or pesticide, or the last generation of viscose whose fabrication process is no longer so polluting. next>>>

Fig.: Charles Dubourg, pull over, 1998.
Tricot de Rhovyl Eco fait de bouteilles d´eau Minérale en P.V.C. et coton 30% avec la collaboration dÉlf Atochem. Au premier plan, bouteilles d´eau minérale en PVC à demi compressées et pemplies de fibres obtenues à partir de leur recyclage.
Coll: Musée Galliera - Crédits photographiques: Karine Maucotel, Paris Musées 1999.