Fashion & Interiors

This impressive catalogue explores the relationship between fashion and interior design through a gendered lens. In the Victorian era, well-to-do women embellished their bodies and interiors with draped fabrics, frills, and ruffles. They visually blended into their surroundings or even threatened to disappear into them. Contemporary fashion designers conceptualise that fusion by transforming interior elements into clothing.

Fashion & Interiors also highlights how male designers, such as Henry van de Velde and Josef Hoffmann, designed women's clothing as part of a total work of art. Fashion designers Paul Poiret and Jeanne Lanvin took inspiration from that approach and deployed interior design in the 'branding' of their fashion house. The impact of clothing also resonated with modernist (interior) architects such as Adolf Loos, Lilly Reich, and Le Corbusier.

The historical connection between fashion and interiors continues to influence fashion designers such as Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela, and Raf Simons. With text contributions by Romy Cockx (MoMu), Robin Schuldenfrei (The Courtauld Institute of Art), Lara Steinhaüßer (MAK), and other subject specialists.

AUTHORS: Romy Cockx is curator of MoMu / Fashion Museum Antwerp. She studied history at the University of Antwerp and worked as project officer for the Archive Centre for Women's History and as curator for Fashion Museum Hasselt. From 2014 to 2019, she was curator of diamond museum DIVA, where she curated two 'Wonder Rooms' in collaboration with Axel Vervoordt and Wouters&Hendrix in addition to the collection presentation.

Robin Schuldenfrei's research and teaching focus on the history and theory of European and American modern architecture and design. She received her doctorate from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design and previously held positions at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Lara Steinhaüßer is Curator, textiles and carpets collection at the MAK in Vienna.

SELLING POINTS:

• Unique exploration of fashion and interiors: Investigates the intersection of fashion and interior design through a gendered perspective, providing fresh insights into these creative fields.
• Historical context: Covers the Victorian era's trend of blending women's clothing and interiors with draped fabrics, frills, and ruffles, where women's fashion visually merged with their surroundings.
• Influence of designers: Showcases pioneering contributions by designers, like Henry van de Velde and Josef Hoffmann, who approached women's clothing as a "total work of art."
• Publication on the occasion of the exhibition: Fashion & Interiors. A Gendered Affair at MoMu Antwerp, from 29 March to 3 August 2025.

150 colour, 70 b/w illustrations