Fashion in the 18th Century Comes to the Palais Galliera in 2026

Anonymous, Outer dress (Usual name), 1770, QTOV 1996: silk taffeta, silk trimmings, sleeve trimmings, mass gauze shaped silk, silk lace, vegetable fibre ruffle stuffing [ ? ] / PGB: green warp taffeta silk, green weft, ecru linen linen lining, white silk gauze [?], trimmings / LRMH: ruffle padding: raw cotton filling, boning, closed with eyelets and ties.© Palais Galliera, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris.

“A Fantasized Heritage” will bring around 70 silhouettes—and the accessories and materials that shaped them—to Paris from March 14 to July 12, 2026.

Palais Galliera is preparing a 2026 season that puts fashion technique and fashion history in the same frame. Alongside spaces dedicated to ornamental know-how—weaving, painting, embroidery and lace—the museum will open a major exhibition focused on 18th-century dress, presented under the subtitle “A Fantasized Heritage.”

The timing matters. The 18th century spans a Europe shaped by rapid change, from the final years of Louis XIV, when French influence set the tone across courts through a deliberate cultural policy, through to the French Revolution, which did not erase that dominance overnight. The exhibition’s promise is direct: to look at what “à la française” meant in actual silhouettes, and how those forms evolved across decades that are often flattened into a single image of powdered spectacle.

For men, the show points to a clear structure around 1730–1740: a three-part outfit made of breeches (largely concealed), a long jacket, and a leotard-style waistcoat with a rounded neckline. For women, one of the key shapes is the robe volante—the “flying dress”—defined by ease and a more informal attitude that drew comparisons to negligée indoor wear and, at the time, provoked criticism precisely because it relaxed established codes.

Galliera’s presentation is built to go beyond a runway of period looks. The museum plans to display around 70 silhouettes, complemented by fashion accessories, textiles, and works in graphic arts and photography, assembling the material culture around dress rather than isolating garments as standalone icons.

Fashion in the 18th Century. A Fantasized Heritage will run at Palais Galliera (10 Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie, 75116 Paris) from March 14, 2026 to July 12, 2026.