Bucharest Municipal Museum part of exhibition at MUCEM Museum in Marseille

The Bucharest Municipal Museum is set to participate with pieces from its collection in the exhibition "Fashion Folklore. Costumes populaire et Haute Couture" at the MUCEM Museum in Marseille, which will open on July 12.

The Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean (MUCEM) is marking its 10th anniversary with the “Fashion Folklore. Costumes populaire et Haute Couture" exhibition. The event is designed as a dialogue between traditional costumes and haute couture. The organizers aim to highlight, through this exhibition, that throughout the 20th century, creators have constantly drawn inspiration from the forms and imagination associated with folk costumes and folklore in a broader sense.

According to an announcement by the Bucharest Municipal Museum, the textile collections of MUCEM (Marseille) are at the heart of the exhibition. Alongside pieces of haute couture and those of great designers, they bear witness to the continuities that run through the history of fashion, as well as the fragile boundaries between artistic creation and popular culture.

The "Fashion Folklore" exhibition presents nearly 300 pieces from the MUCEM collections as well as French and foreign collections. By taking part, the Bucharest Municipal Museum joins prestigious companies such as Palais Galliera, Musée des Arts décoratifs de Paris, Musée de Quimper, Yves Saint Laurent Museum - Paris, and Musée de la Mode de Marseille, according to Adrian Majuru, the director of the Bucharest City Museum, cited by News.ro.

Conservator Cristina Vasiliu and curator Alexandra Rusu from the Bucharest Municipal Museum are participating in the event, accompanying and contributing to the display of the pieces.

Back in 2011, French fashion designer Philippe Guilet collaborated with numerous Romanian artisans to create the "100%.RO – Prejudices” collection. By seeking to eliminate any prejudices related to Romanian culture, Guilet developed a fashion collection meant to showcase contemporary creation and artisanal tradition. In the coming days, four pieces from his creation - titled "Matilda," "Constantina," "Carmen," and a "călușari" hat - will be presented by the French artist to the audience in his home country, allowing the French to discover the connection between haute couture and Romanian folk art.

The greatest couturiers and haute couture houses are present in “Fashion Folklore,” such as Balenciaga, Gabrielle Chanel, Chloé, Dior, John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Philippe Guilet, Hermès, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Pascal Jaouen, Kenzo Takada, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Jeanne Lanvin, Alexander McQueen, Martin Margiela, Val Piriou, Paul Poiret, Yves Saint Laurent, Paco Rabanne, Elsa Schiaparelli, Franck Sorbier, Riccardo Tisci, Valentino, Giambattista Valli, Dries Van Noten, Victor & Rolf, Clare Waigth Keller, Victor Weisanto, and Bernard Wilhelm.