In Paris, 1997 Is Celebrated As Y2K’s Most Important Year

A new exhibition in Paris casts 1997 as one of modern fashion’s most defining years. Taking it’s name from an article in Vogue Paris that claimed the couture shows of 1997 were ‘Big Bang’, this expansive new exhibition at the Palais Galleria looks at a year in fashion that until the recent Y2K craze, has been largely overlooked.

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In 1997 Fashion Bang Bang, works by Gianni Versace, Comme des Garçons by Rei Kawakubo and Martin Margiela come together to make a case for 1997 as the entryway to the provocative modern fashion that has taken place since the turn of the millennium. Here, we select four key looks from the exhibition and delve into this definitive year in fashion.

Comme des Garçons by Rei Kawakubo’s collection ‘Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body’, Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 1997

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Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo parodied the extreme body shape trends that impacted women in the 1990s with her oversized, warped and twisted female figures. Naming the collection ‘Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body’, Kawakubo examined the dissasoation women were having with their bodies in the middle of the 1990s, with the figures showcasing her entire SS97 collection. Reminiscent of Louise Bourgeois’ sometimes bloated, sometimes invisible female frames, Kawakubo subtly criticised the ‘heroin chic’ trend of the 1990s, dubbed so by writer and editor Ingrid Sischy.

Christian Lacroix Haute Couture Fall/Winter 1997 show

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Pink has gone from millennial fad to couture favourite once again, but in 1997 Christian Lacroix was the first to reimagine the colour’s saccharine and frivolous associations in his Haute Couture Fall/Winter 1997 show. 1997 Fashion Bang Bang is laid out chronologically, but this full length couture gown is one of the first looks you’ll want to see in the show. Alongside Tom Ford, Margiela and Rei Kawakubo, Lacroix was one of the original star designers of contemporary fashion. Featuring a series of works from his FW97 couture show, the exhibition explores the power this work has held over young designers who still channel Lacroix’s verve.

Chloe Spring/Summer Ready to Wear 1997

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Stella McCartney’s Spring/Summer 1997 collection predicted the era of the celebrity creative director. Her appointment at Chloe had been controversial, drawing criticism of her placement being due to nepotism, not talent — Karl Lagerfeld, her predecessor at Chloe, had publicly spoken out against it. On show is McCartney’s first ever collection for the brand, which now sells for thousands of dollars on resale sights such as Vestiaire Collective and the Real Real, and is used as reference by a new era of emerging designers who study her mix of high-low aesthetics.

Gianni Versace Fall/Winter 1997

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Nine days before he was murdered outside his home in Miami, Gianni Versace showed what would be his final ever couture show on 6 July 1997. Modelled by Naomi Campbell, Stella Tennant and Esther Canadas, Versace’s contoured embellished dresses foreshadowed an era of excess in the early noughts. The brand’s following creative director Donatella Versace has iterated on the silhouetted debuted by Gianni in his final show ever since.

1997 Fashion Bang Bang runs until 17 July at Palais Galleria.