Madame Grés

Regarded as the patroness of couture, Madame Grès felt she was predestined to become a sculptor. Yet when fate steered her towards the fine art of the draped dress, the designer gave shape to her tactile ambitions by practising an alternative discipline. Treating fabric as she would stone, Madame Grès, née Germaine Krebs, carved out a place for herself in the chronicles of fashion with her clean, modern lines and precise expertise in seamless draping and pleating, which is still being referenced by numerous designers today, from Alaïa to Ackermann.

Madame Grès: Sculptural Fashion is Anwerp’s MoMu's recomposition of the 2011 Madame Grès exhibition staged in the Parisian sculpture museum, musée Bourdelle. Presenting an overview of the designer’s 50-year career by showing her work in original editorial images taken by the greatest photographers at the time and a number of Grès’ own original drawings, the exhibition subtly emphasizes Grès’ timeless modernity by juxtaposing her silhouettes with those of contemporary designers.