Worth : Inventer la Haute Couture
Auteur(s) : Collectif
Exhibition at the Petit Palais, Paris, 7 May - 7 September 2025
Considered to be the founder of Parisian haute couture, the British designer Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895) founded the house Worth & Bobergh at 7 rue de la Paix in Paris in 1858, which dressed the Princess of Metternich, the imperial court and the Empress Eugenie herself, imposing its domination on Parisian fashion. From 1870 onwards, the house bore the sole name of Worth, and became the symbol of French refinement and savoir-faire for four generations and almost a century.
The catalogue for this unprecedented retrospective brings together more than 400 pieces - clothing, accessories, objets d'art, paintings and graphic arts - and aims to highlight both the creations and the key figures of the House of Worth, including the Italian Franca Florio, the American Lady Curzon and the Countess Greffulhe, model for the Duchess of Guermantes in the works of Marcel Proust. Portraits painted by Carolus-Duran, La Gandara and Louise Breslau bear witness to the desire of these wealthy women to be represented in their most beautiful Worth dresses.
