From the 5th millennium BC onwards, gold adorned the first luxury fabrics dedicated to men of power. In the following centuries, weavers and expert craftsmen – Roman, Byzantine, Chinese, Persian and then Muslim –
employ the most ingenious techniques to create real art fabrics where silk or linen fibres are intertwined with gold blades and threads. From the first ornaments sewn onto the clothes of the deceased to the clothes
bright designs by Chinese designer Guo Pei, gold-embroidered kaftans from the Maghreb and the Orient, silks from the Indian and Indonesian worlds, right up to the glittering kimonos of the Edo era,The exhibition offers a journey along the gold in two historical-technical sections and five corresponding sections in five large geographical and cultural areas.
Costumes of light from the lands of the setting sun, between gold and silk
The costumes presented in this first geographical section – coat (caftan), tunic, trousers, waistcoat – testify to the cultural mix that marks the countries of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia). The taste for splendor characterizes very early in this region. In the 10th century, the city of Mahdia, in Tunisia, was famous for its fabrics woven with gold and silk. Two centuries later, under the Almohad dynasty, gold-brocaded silks were produced in workshops from Marrakech, Morocco, but also from Malaga and Almeria in Andalusia. After the fall of Granada in 1492, the countries of North Africa welcomed many Andalusian, Jewish and Muslim exiles who brought fashions of clothing but also new techniques of weaving and embroidery in gold leaf. From the XNUMXth century, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire influenced the urban costumes of this region, which were inspired by Turkish models.
Ceremonial costumes in Eastern countries
The second section is dedicated to a vast Levantine region comprising Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. From the Muslim expansion in the 750th century in Asia and Africa, the taste for luxury and rich clothing spread to the new empire. Under the Abbasid dynasty of Baghdad (1258-969) as well as those of the Fatimids (1171 and 1250) and the Mamluks of Egypt (1517-XNUMX), weaving workshops produced fine fabrics decorated with gold, some of which were intended for the production of dresses for upper-class women. These luxury fabrics occupy a prominent place in Ottoman Türkiye.
but also in Safavid Iran (1501-1736) and Qajar Iran (1786-1925) as attested by many Western travellers such as Jean Thévenot or Jean Chardin.
Colorful dresses from the Arabian Peninsula
This The third section is dedicated to a region that extends from the heart of the'Arabia to the Emirates of the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar). It presents a rich selection of party and wedding dresses that betray Indian influence. Cut from tulle, damask or silk chiffon with superb gold embroidery, these dresses share the same characteristics: wide and almost square cut, side panels that open to form large sleeves that cover the head in a double drape. These bright dresses are today the quintessential women's ceremonial outfit of the women of this vast area. They are found under different names depending on the country: thob al-hashimi, thob al-nashal, thob al-mufarakh or even thob al-mukhattam.
Draped in gold in the Indian and Southeast Asian worlds
This section focuses on the art of drapery characteristic of South Asian societies.
south and southeast. In lavish weddings, Indian women choose gold and adorn themselves with the most sumptuous saris embroidered with gold metallic threads. In Malaysia and Sumatra in Indonesia, songket, long rectangles of golden woven silk, are the dress of choice for traditional ceremonies. They are worn in a sarong around the waist, in an asymmetrical stole or in a headdress expertly knotted on the head.
Finally in Cambodia and Laos gold adorns especially the members of the royal and court dance and theatre artists whose glittering costumes embroidered and woven with gold thread evoke the deities of the pantheon.
Buddhist and Hindu.
Gold and Silk Costumes in East Asia
The final section travels to China and Japan to explore the centuries-old history of those countries of this exceptional alloy of gold and fabric. In China, the very first silks embellished with gold date stamps from the Han and Jin dynasties (between 206 BC and 420 AD). Fragments decorated with gold leaf from this period are found in Xinjiang. It was under the Tang (618-907) and especially under the Liao (907-1125) and Jin (1151-1234) dynasties that complex silks woven with gold (zhijinjin) spread. Embroidery with gold thread developed in the imperial workshops of the Tan dynasty that prospered until the 1336th century. A spectacular set of kimonos and obi belts completes the exhibition. Originally a simple everyday garment, the kimono became an extremely refined ceremonial garment of the Muromachi period (1573 – XNUMX). From the first
mid-Edo era (1603-1867), kimonos are covered in rich gold embroidery and gold leaf decorations. This chapter also offers the opportunity to evoke the history of Nishijin, a textile district in Kyoto renowned for its fabrics embellished with gold and silver metallic threads.
Between art and fashion, Guo Pei's creations
Guo Pei, creator of Chinese fashion exhibits 5 unpublished pieces and 9 existing costumes that make up the exhibition in all the dialogue with the textile works presented and in the sublimating.
The exhibition concludes with a focus on gold in French embroidery and more specifically on the Maison
Lesage, which has been creating the most beautiful haute couture creations for 100 years.
