A new book and exhibition explores fashion and interior design through a gender lens, from the Victorian era to now.

Fashion & Interiors: A Gendered Affair explores the relationship between fashion and interiors from a gender perspective. In the second half of the nineteenth century, bourgeois ladies embellished both their bodies and their homes with drapes, fringing and ruches. Certain male designers – Henry van de Velde and Josef Hoffmann, among others – waged war on that decorative excess and designed women’s clothing and interiors as part of a well-thought-out total work of art.

Fashion designers Paul Poiret and Jeanne Lanvin drew inspiration from this approach and used interior design to create a powerful brand for their fashion houses. The impact of clothing also resonated with modernist (interior) architects such as Adolf Loos, Lilly Reich and Le Corbusier. This complex history is reflected in surprising ways in the visual language and creations of contemporary fashion designers such as Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela, and Raf Simons.

This book is published in conjunction with the exhibition Fashion & Interiors. A Gendered Affair on view at MoMu—Fashion Museum Antwerp from 29 March to 3 August 2025.

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FASHION & INTERIORS : A Gendered Affair

Authors: Romy Cockx, Robin Schuldenfrei, Lara Steinhäußer e.a. 

A publication by Hannibal Books: https://hannibalbooks.be/mode-interieur-a-gendered-affair#47661 
Hardcover with jacket – 224 pagina’s – 27,5 × 20,5 cm 
English edition – ISBN 978 94 6494 193 7 Available from 24 March 2025

EXHIBITION INFORMATION: 

FASHION & INTERIORS: A Gendered Affair

Curator: Romy Cockx Fashion & Interiors. A Gendered Affair. explores the relationship between fashion and interiors from a gender perspective. The exhibition moves from the visual mergence of the nineteenth-century woman with her interior, to creatives such as Henry van de Velde and modernist (interior)architects like Adolf Loos, Lilly Reich and Le Corbusier. Contemporary creations by (among others) Maison Martin Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, Raf Simons and Hussein Chalayan on display in the exhibition, serve as a cue to reflect on the historical correlation between interior and fashion.

Location: MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp

Date: 29/03/2025 until 3/08/2025

Address: Nationalestraat 28 – 2000 Antwerp – Belgium 

Tel.: +32-(0)3.470.27.70

E-Mail: info@momu.be

Web: www.momu.be