Hong Kong Palace Museum showcases Chinese influence on past centuries of French fashion
- ‘The Adorned Body’ is among four exhibitions at West Kowloon Cultural District to mark 60 years of France-China diplomatic ties
A man’s nightgown with Chinese-inspired patterns is perhaps not the first item that springs to mind when thinking about French fashion, but it is one of nearly 400 pieces being exhibited in the latest show at the Hong Kong Palace Museum.
Titled “The Adorned Body: French Fashion and Jewellery 1770–1910 from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris”, it is among four exhibitions being held at the West Kowloon Cultural District this year to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and France.
The exhibition debuted the largest late 18th to early 20th century French fashion collection in Asia last Wednesday, showing how cultural exchanges between the two countries had taken place before modern diplomatic relations were established.
Dr Denis Bruna, head curator, fashion and textiles department, pre-1800 collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, said it was “important” to show links between China and France during the 18th century, and how “there was a fascination and admiration in the French aristocracy for China’s art and culture”.
Bruna was referring to the style known as “chinoiserie”, when Asian aesthetics took Europe by storm in a trend fuelled by the trading of Chinese goods and led by the porcelain-collecting and tea-drinking nobility.
