UK's first dedicated Marie Antoinette exhibition to open at London museum
Marie Antoinette Style will open at the museum in September, and will feature 250 objects including clothing and decorative arts, with some loaned from France's Chateau De Versailles.
The exhibition's curator, Sarah Grant, said: 'The most fashionable, scrutinised and controversial queen in history, Marie Antoinette's name summons both visions of excess and objects and interiors of great beauty.
Wedding gown of Duchess Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotta, later queen of Sweden, which will be on display (Goran Schmidt/Livrustkammaren/SHM/PA)
'The Austrian archduchess-turned queen of France had an enormous impact on European taste and fashion in her own time, creating a distinctive style that now has universal appeal and application.
'This exhibition explores that style and the figure at its centre, using a range of exquisite objects belonging to Marie Antoinette, alongside the most beautiful fine and decorative objects that her legacy has inspired.
'This is the design legacy of an early modern celebrity and the story of a woman whose power to fascinate has never ebbed. Marie Antoinette's story has been re-told and re-purposed by each successive generation to suit its own ends.
'The rare combination of glamour, spectacle and tragedy she presents remains as intoxicating today as it was in the 18th century.'
The exhibition will feature richly embellished fragments of court dress, the queen's own silk slippers, and jewels from her private collection.
There will also be a number of items which have never left France before, such as the queen's dinner service from the Petit Trianon, her accessories and items from her toilette case.
Marie Antoinette Style will look at Antoinette's origins and impact on style from her own time to the present day through audio visual installations and 'immersive' curation.
A white dress which will be part of the exhibition (Victoria and AlbertMuseum, London/PA)
A scent experience will re-create the smells of the court, and the perfume favoured by the Antoinette.
The exhibition will also feature contemporary clothing including pieces by designers such as Moschino, Dior, Chanel, Erdem, Vivienne Westwood and Valentino – and costumes from Sofia Coppola's Oscar-winning Marie Antoinette staring Kirsten Dunst.
Tickets for the exhibition go on sale on Tuesday and are available from the V&A website.
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