Exploring 'Fashion & Interiors: A Gendered Affair' at MoMu delves into the intricate social structure of domestic settings
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In the world of luxury and style, the boundaries between fashion and interior design have often blurred, creating a unique symphony of aesthetics that extends far beyond clothing. This dynamic intersection is the focus of a new exhibition at MoMu - Fashion Museum Antwerp, titled 'Fashion & Interiors: A Gendered Affair'.
The exhibition, which runs until 3 August 2025, presents an overview of the importance of authorship in design, exploring shifting tastes, styles, and attitudes over a century. Curator Romy Cockx has carefully curated the show to highlight various perspectives on design authorship for discussion.
One of the key figures at the intersection of fashion and interiors is Lily Reich, a German designer who was the first woman to be elected to the board of the Deutscher Werkbund in 1920. Reich, who had an atelier in Berlin and started with embroidery before working with Josef Hoffmann, is credited with designing the iconic 'Barcelona' day bed, although recent scholarship suggests that the conception may have been her own.
Reich's work is a testament to the idea of a total creation, or gesamtkunstwerk, which originated over a century ago with the architect Josef Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstätte. This concept, which emphasizes the integration of all arts and crafts in a single work, was evident in Villa Bloemenwerf, the home of Belgian artist Henry van de Velde. Van de Velde and his wife Maria Sèthe designed the entire environment of the villa, including cutlery, carpets, furniture, and chairs.
The idea of a total creation was also embraced by Paul Poiret, a French designer who could be considered one of the first fashion designers to create a lifestyle brand. Poiret's designs extended beyond clothing to include interior motifs, textiles, and even perfumes, creating a holistic brand identity.
Fast forward to the modern era, and visionary designers like Gianni Versace and Emilio Pucci have continued to influence lifestyle branding by merging fashion, art, and interior design. Versace's glamorous, vibrant designs linked fashion with pop culture and music, helping turn his brand into a lifestyle phenomenon marked by luxury interiors and accessory lines that reflected his distinctive style. Pucci's innovative use of geometric prints and luxurious fabrics reflected a Mediterranean lifestyle that transcended apparel to influence textiles and interior motifs.
In the contemporary luxury retail and brand development space, figures such as Nada Ibrahim have played key roles by integrating interior design and fashion concepts to craft cohesive lifestyle brand experiences. Ibrahim, working at Louis Vuitton, exemplifies how interior design projects—ranging from store layouts to scent spatialization—are critical to evolving fashion brands into immersive lifestyle entities with global cultural resonance.
The exhibition also sheds light on the more utilitarian approach to clothing advocated by Adolf Loos, an Austrian architect and cultural critic, who criticized the fashion industry for its frivolous nature. Loos's ideas echoed those of Reich, who was against imitation and Parisian fashion, aligning with Modernist architects in a nationalistic discourse.
Multidisciplinary artists such as Minjae Kim reflect a new wave of creatives blurring lines between fashion, interiors, and art, illustrating an evolving definition of lifestyle brands where the creator extends their vision across multiple formats to shape culture comprehensively.
As we continue to explore the fascinating world of fashion and interiors, it's clear that these visionary designers and creatives have influenced lifestyle brand development by merging visual languages from fashion and interiors, promoting brand identities that embody cultural values, artistic innovation, and sensory experiences beyond traditional product categories. Their work helped establish luxury brands not only as purveyors of clothing but as creators of immersive lifestyle worlds.
[1] Source: https://www.versace.com/us/en/about-us/history [2] Source: https://www.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/stories/nada-ibrahim [3] Source: https://www.momu.be/en/exhibition/fashion-interiors-a-gendered-affair [4] Source: https://www.minjaekimstudio.com/ [5] Source: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/de-stijl-movement
- Lily Reich's design of the 'Barcelona' day bed, a significant example of the total creation concept, demonstrates how fashion and home-and-garden designs can be seamlessly intertwined.
- Contemporary artists like Minjae Kim continue to blur the lines between fashion-and-beauty, home-and-garden, and art, expanding the notion of lifestyle brands to encompass comprehensive cultural influence.
