In anticipation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Paris in 2024, the Palais Galliera questions the role of clothing in the practice of physical and sporting activities, its relationship with the body and movement, as well as the social consequences of its evolution . Rich in about 200 works, this exhibition retraces, through the museum's collections, a history of fashion from the eighteenth century to the present day, and develops in parallel a transversal theme dedicated to the body in movement. Clothing designed over the centuries for exercise and sports is compared to everyday clothing. This dialogue questions notions of the specialization of sportswear, the late 19th-century adaptation of women's clothing for physical practice, the masculinization of women's clothing, or the introduction of sportswear into the everyday wardrobe. Finally, the evolution of the body is highlighted, especially the athletic one, and the way in which it is enhanced by clothing, to better understand how the liberation of the body through physical activity has contributed to the evolution of mentalities and canons of beauty.
