La Mode En Mouvement: Tracing the Evolution of Sports Fashion at Palais Galliera

There is just under a year left until a new edition of the Olympic Games is held in Paris, a date that will have millions of people in suspense who will cheer on athletes from different parts of the globe, in the most diverse disciplines: judo, fencing, swimming , badminton, golf, skateboarding, show jumping, rowing, climbing, and the list goes on. Of course, the French capital has already started preparations, as have its art galleries. As proof, the Palais Galliera, also known as the Musée de la Mode, which has mounted an exhibition with Olympic echoes that is already a sensation in the city of lights. We are talking about La mode en mouvement, an ongoing exhibition that exhibits some 250 garments that trace the evolution of the sports jacket – mainly, the feminine one – during the last three centuries, on display until September 7, 2025. Yes, until 2025 , a good while, but not without some modifications: up to three times the curatorship will renew the expo’s wardrobe to show off the many pearls in its reserves.

Evidently there is a lot of fabric to cut on the subject, to understand that the useful joggers and sneakers were not achieved overnight; There was a time not so long ago when, to walk through the meadow, ladies had to put up with corseted busts and multiple petticoats. Obstacles to comfort that, over the centuries, were overcome, as this proposal invites you to observe, where you can see old skirts adapted to facilitate hiking, past swimsuits (wool, from the 19th century, with long sleeves and pants up to the calf), discover the ancestor of the fanny pack or, closer in time, review the first collaborations between brands and athletes.

Hiking suit from the late 19th century, circa 1867

“Clothing specifically designed to facilitate body movement was born in the 18th century in England, when the aristocracy and upper classes began to practice leisure activities such as hunting with dogs and foxes, horse racing; also wrestling and boxing,” says Marie-Laure Gutton, main curator of the exhibition, and adds that “it is during the 19th century that the idea that exercise contributes to better individual health and, consequently, to a healthier society, this type of practices being encouraged by the health policies of the time.” He clarifies, by the way, that La mode en mouvement does not only review the clothing created for exercise but aims to tell a broader story: how this type of clothing influenced everyday clothing, contributing to a gradual change in mentality, moving towards a fashion that adapts to the movement of the body and, little by little, frees it from restrictive silhouettes.

Perhaps the test case – according to this expert on the subject – is the pants, “and how cycling contributed greatly to women starting to wear them.” Towards the end of the 19th century, when the use of bicycles spread, they mounted this symbol of freedom on wheels, showing off their bloomers, which – as is well known – received its name from the suffrage journalist Amelia Bloomer, a pioneer in imposing Among advanced ladies, Turkish-style bloomers. Thus, this garment was initially a matter of small circles among the girls of the elites, who were allowed digression only during exercise times. And not without receiving a slap on the wrist from some doctors of the time, who claimed that cycling put their fertility at serious risk. That said, although the First World War put a pause on leisure time, it popularized two wheels in times of rationing.

Cyclist’s outfit, around 1900. Palais Galliera

Among the treasures that can be seen in the Palais Galliera, a museum located in the 16th Parisian arrondissement, is the gaulle or chemise de la reine; that is, the light muslin dress, with layers draped around her body that was a notorious favorite of Marie Antoinette during her stay at the Petit Trianon. The young sovereign liked the comfortable model so much that she chose to be immortalized by the painter Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun in a painting from 1783, despite the scandal that this unstructured outfit caused at the French court, which, for her detractors, was not lives up to his status. Another gem on display: a “walking suit” from the 1860s that, in its days, made the cumbersome – although recommended for its health benefits – task of going on a hike a little easier for women. Through a system of small zippers, the length of the skirt was raised a few centimeters, allowing them to walk without the risk of tripping or soiling the fabric.

The curator says that, several years later, in the 1910s, the habit of walking actively was adopted, almost at a trot; and clothing adapts, of course, lighter and less restrictive to “adjust to the demands of our modern life: active, hectic, with a taste for sports and fast travel,” in the express words of the French magazine Femina, issue from the year 1914. Not everything was hunky-dory, it goes without saying: the use of heels slowed down the pace… And yes, there was still a long way to go in history before we reached contemporary air-chambered soles.

Swimsuit from 1925, Palais Galliera

“The French tennis player Suzanne Lenglen (1899-1938), the Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman (1886-1975), the French athlete Violette Morris (1893-1944); Just a few names of pioneering athletes that come to mind when we think about fashion and movement,” notes Harper’s Bazaar magazine, French edition, regarding the exhibition. She points out that thanks to these -and other- women the body “becomes more of a means of competition and performance, less of a sexual object, making relative nudity more acceptable: exposing the ankle, the arm, the leg…”. In this regard, it is worth remembering how the mermaid Kellerman, considered the inventor of the modern swimsuit, ended up gray in 1907 due to indecency!, by training shamelessly in a mesh that was too tight, too revealing.

The overwhelming and charismatic Lenglen, for her part, was not only one of the first great professional tennis players in history. “La Divina”, as the press nicknamed this multi-Olympic medalist and winner of 31 Grand Slam titles, also revolutionized the court with her great style: dressed by the visionary couturier Jean Patou, she wore short, pleated skirts to the court, at the height of the knee, becoming an emblem of avant-garde fashion, which moved to the streets. “Three quarters of the daytime fashion offered in Paris today is sportswear. Simple, practical and youthful, it constitutes an influence that feels increasingly distant from the field of active sports in favor of clothing for the day in general, for vacations and for travel,” Vogue magazine stated in those years. It is worth saying that, in addition to Patou’s muse, Lenglen became an ambassador for her house, anticipating what is currently happening, when Coco Gauff collaborates with New Balance, Djokovic is a representative of Lacoste, etc.

Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld, year 1991

Just a few examples, in short, of how the evolution of clothing went hand in hand with the democratization of sports practices, be it cycling, swimming, golf, skiing… The story continues, of course, as shown what is possibly one of the greatest objects of desire today: sneakers in their endless variations; the most desired, made in collaboration with couturiers like Rick Owens, brands like Comme des Garçons, the top athletes on the scene. Another lasting influence as – as the publication Elle warns – this form of footwear is closely linked to exercise; Converse, without further ado, were originally created to play basketball; and the Nikes, to have some good runs…

2023-09-22 03:02:08
#tour #sports #clothing #centuries #Olympics #TRUE