Alongside La Scène – a permanent space dedicated to scenography – and the collection focused on the dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev, the CNCS will open a new permanent exhibition space on February 15, 2025, covering 180 m². Costumes, accessories, videos, models, textile samples, and illustrations will offer a pedagogical, sensitive, and sensory approach to unveil the treasures of the CNCS collections and provide insights into the history and specifics of stage costumes.

What is a stage costume?

Opera, theatre, dance, musical theatre, cabaret… With this new gallery, visitors will discover, through the CNCS collections, the richness and variety of costumes created for each performing discipline. A dramatic object, serving a text or narrative, the costume helps to define a character while providing the artist with a “second skin” to personify that role. The costumes presented will highlight key concepts such as interpretation, which is reflected in the artistic and temporal choices of the stage productions, responding to the diverse artistic styles deployed by costume designers.

A brief history of stage costumes through the CNCS collections

The preservation of stage costumes is a recent approach in museum and heritage collections. As such, there are significant gaps in tracing the history of costumes from their earliest appearances on stage. However, through around fifteen costumes from the CNCS collections, this gallery will provide an overview of the major developments in their forms and aesthetics. Iconic pieces, such as an authentic 18th-century costume worn on the stage of the Comédie-Française, costumes from the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics, and a rare piece from the creation of Aida when it entered the repertoire of the Paris Opera, along with a haute couture costume for Lady Macbeth by Thierry Mugler, are some of the milestones in this ever-evolving and reinterpreted narrative.

Various educational elements will complement these spaces, explaining the stages of costume creation, their preservation processes, and how they are valued at the CNCS.

L’article Treasures from the Collections est apparu en premier sur CNCS.

A designer On Stage

For almost 40 years, even before the opening of his High Fashion House, Christian Lacroix has worked in theater, opera house and company costume workshops. He gracefully combines high fashion techniques, artisan savoir-faire and backstage tricks with a profound respect and a strong personal sensitivity for each piece. Christian Lacroix whose interest in the History of fashion equals his interest in the History of costume design, has more than 100 productions under his responsibility since the mid-nineteen eighties.

Progressively, designing stage costumes prevailed over creating High Fashion collections. After being awarded two “Dés d’Or”, one for Jean Patou in 1986 and another one for his own House in 1988, Christian Lacroix has become the recipient of two “Molière”  for two plays staged  at the Comédie-Française : firstly, for Phèdre directed by Anne Delbée in 1995; secondly, for Cyrano de Bergerac, directed by Denis Podalydès in 2006. The complicity between Christian Lacroix, Eric Ruf and Denis Podalydès has resulted in Christian Lacroix being anchored at the Comédie-Française, and thereafter at Les Bouffes du Nord, the Opéra Garnier, the Opéra-Comique and  Le Théâtre des Champs Elysées. Since the early two thousands, after he met Vincent Boussard who was directing a concert with Les Arts Florissants, Christian Lacroix has worked on more than thirty lyrical productions in Paris, at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence, at Le Capitole in Toulouse, L’ Opéra National du Rhin, at La Monnaie in Bruxelles, as well as in Spain, in some ten opera houses in Germany,  Austria and Switzerland, not to mention in China.

In 2021, in addition to creating stage costumes and stage sets, Christian Lacroix directed Offenbach’s La Vie parisienne, a production first featured at the Rouen opera house, then in Paris at Le Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and later everywhere in France. In December 2024, Eric Ruf called him again for Le soulier de satin, his last creation as administrator of La Comédie-Française. 2025 promises to be a year rich in events : in April with Donizetti’s La fille du régiment directed by Jean-Romain Vespirini at L’Opéra royal de Versailles; in May with the 2022 revival of David et Jonathas directed  by Marshall Pynkoski, also with Gounod’s Faust directed by Denys Podalydès at the Lille opera house and with Wagner’s Le Vaisseau fantôme  directed by Michel Fau at Le Capitole, the Toulouse opera house. Finally, for the holiday season, Offenbach’s La Vie parisienne  will be programmed at L’Opéra Royal de Versailles.

A unique bond between the designer and the National Center of Stage Costume and Stage Set

Since 2006, the year when the museum was inaugurated, Christian Lacroix has supported the National Center of Stage Costume and Stage Set. First, as President of the Association prefiguring the creation of the museum and then as Honorary President since its opening. Christian Lacroix  has also been involved in scheduling exhibitions. In 2007, Christian Lacroix, a costume designer showcased many of his stage costumes from 1985 to 2006; in 2012, Christian Lacroix, La Source et le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris presented the  step-by-step process from the creation to the production of costumes for the new Paris Opera choreography. Last but not least, Christian Lacroix regularly donates to the museum his archives (sketches and models of stage costumes, folders filled with research and documents regarding the shows he has worked on). Such donations constitute invaluable resources for the museum collections.

The exhibition: an immersion in Christian Lacroix’s flamboyant and baroque world

Christian Lacroix On Stage, the third exhibition dedicated to the designer, invites the visitors to immerse themselves in the fascinating world of the designer whose creations continue to fill them with wonder. Christian Lacroix, a visionary artist famous for his flamboyant and baroque style, is one of the most prolific costume designers. From showroom to showroom, the visitors discover the very foundations of the designer’s inspirations thanks to some 140 stage costumes, archives, sketches and models from productions scheduled between 2007 and 2024. Not only do the costumes attest to the designer’s mastery when creating silhouettes perfectly fit for the character, but they also echo the director’s artistic vision. Colours, fabrics, ornamentations and volumes fully partake into the drama unfolding on stage. The costumes labelled Christian Lacroix narrate a story and their visual impact send the public into a unique artistic world.

The exhibition and the book edited for the occasion have made room for the artistic contributors Christian Lacroix has worked with throughout the years:  loyal fellowmen, collaborators, stage directors, set designers, performers and assistants. Likewise, some chapters of the exhibition catalogue are dedicated to the workshops, notably those of La Comédie-Française, the Opéra-Comique, Le Capitole in Toulouse, L’Opéra national du Rhin, Le Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Caraco Canezou workshop and to numerous others from different European opera houses.

📅 Christian Lacroix on Stage

Exhibition on view from April 5, 2025 to January 4, 2026

L’article Christian Lacroix on stage est apparu en premier sur CNCS.