MARIE ANTOINETTE STYLE

ARTISTIC HUB MAGAZINE
Oct 28
3 min read

When Fashion Becomes History

Film still from Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Photo courtesy of I WANT CANDY LLC. and Zoetrope Corp — *Film still from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. © Photo courtesy of I WANT CANDY LLC. and Zoetrope Corp. / V&A Museum, London*

At London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, an exhibition brings new life to one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in fashion history. “Marie Antoinette Style,” now on view at V&A South Kensington, opened on 20 September 2025 and runs until 22 March 2026. Through more than 250 exhibits, it traces how a young Austrian archduchess, upon becoming Queen of France, shaped the aesthetic language of an era and left a legacy that continues to inspire two and a half centuries later.

Marie Antoinette remains one of history’s most scrutinised women – a queen whose name evokes both extravagance and elegance, excess and beauty. Her taste for refinement redefined the culture of 18th-century France and influenced everything from fashion and interiors to fine craftsmanship. As one of the first modern icons, she mastered the power of image long before the age of celebrity, turning style into a form of expression and identity.

Left to right: exhibition views of “Marie Antoinette Style” at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The exhibition presents richly embroidered fragments of court gowns, silk slippers, jewels, and personal items once belonging to the queen. For the first time outside Versailles, visitors can see her porcelain dinner service from the Petit Trianon, accessories, and intimate objects from her toilette case. These historical treasures are shown alongside contemporary interpretations – couture creations by Dior, Chanel, Erdem, Valentino, Moschino, and Vivienne Westwood, as well as costumes from Sofia Coppola’s Oscar-winning film “Marie Antoinette,” with shoes designed by Manolo Blahnik.

*Moschino show, Runway, Fall/Winter 2020, Milan Fashion Week, Italy – 20 Feb 2020. Photo © PIXELFORMULA / SIPA / Shutterstock / Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London*

According to Sarah Grant, curator of the exhibition, “Marie Antoinette Style explores the origins and countless revivals of the aesthetic shaped by the most fashionable queen in history.” Her dress, interiors and imagery transcended personal taste to become a cultural manifesto that crossed borders and defined European luxury. The combination of glamour, spectacle, and tragedy she embodied remains as intoxicating today as it was in the eighteenth century.

The exhibition reveals how Marie Antoinette’s visual identity has survived revolutions, artistic movements, and changing ideals of femininity. Her silhouettes and colours have influenced Art Nouveau, twentieth-century reinterpretations of Baroque, and contemporary designers who continue to reinvent her language of style. It also explores her lasting impact on decorative arts, photography, film, and performance – fields that still echo her vision of beauty and self-representation.

Part of V&A’s 2025 programme, “Marie Antoinette Style” merges art, design, and history through a modern lens. Rather than glorifying luxury, it invites reflection on what fashion truly represents – expression, identity, and the enduring dialogue between aesthetics and power.

Through this exhibition, the Victoria and Albert Museum reminds us that fashion can be far more than decoration. It can be a language that tells the story of a life, a time, and a world that continues to inspire.