Louvre Couture Brings High Fashion Into MFAH Galleries
A new exhibit pairs couture ensembles with masterworks across the museum.
One of the most popular pieces in the Louvre Couture exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is made from more than 650 yards of light-blue tulle. Instead of the paintings or sculptures usually seen in the MFAH galleries, it’s a stunning—and voluminous—high-fashion gown by Giambattista Valli.
“This is a very different kind of show from anything previously seen at the MFAH,” says Cindi Strauss, curator of modern and contemporary decorative arts and design.
Created in collaboration with the Louvre Museum in Paris, Louvre Couture comprises 36 fashion ensembles installed throughout the MFAH’s Beck and Kinder Buildings. Each is paired with a masterwork from the MFAH collection so as to mirror styles, shapes, and colors.
The four-tiered Valli ball gown is seen in the American gallery with a series of portraits of women in ball gowns every bit as ethereal as Valli’s couture creation. Nearby is a Tiffany peacock vase, echoing the dress’s light-blue color.
“The Valli gown absolutely references the spirit of the artwork that surrounds it,” says Strauss.
The abundance of tulle is a Valli signature. And though there are 600 meters of it, Valli still managed to show a bit of skin with a peekaboo opening on the chest.
Another outstanding ensemble is a Jeremy Scott design from the 2012–2013 Moschino ready-to-wear line. That ready-to-wear tag is decidedly misleading; the dress is architectural in scope. Made of brown silk and adorned with beads, sequins, and what seem to be drawer pulls and keyholes on the bodice, the Scott dress features a wide skirt reminiscent of a chest of drawers. It stands near an American high chest of drawers employing the same elements.
In the museum’s Dutch gallery, Strauss and co-curator Christine Gervais paired a John Galliano for Christian Dior ensemble with a multi-tiered Delftware tulipiere. The cream-colored gown has a white underskirt adorned with blue designs, clearly referencing the famed blue-and-white Delftware ceramics for which the Dutch are so well known.
Works by LGBTQ designers are certainly front and center in this exhibition, even though sexuality was not a focus for the curators in assembling it.
Along with Galliano, who is gay, several other designers seen in the exhibit are also associated with the LGBTQ community. Cristóbal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Gianni Versace, Thom Brown, Yves Saint Laurent, and Karl Lagerfeld are among them, while others like Giambattista Valli are not members of the LGBTQ community but explore gender fluidity in their work.
Asked about any must-see ensembles, Strauss says, laughing, “That’s a hard list to make. I would say the Giambattista Valli tulle gown in the American gallery is not to be missed. And for Houston audiences specifically, there’s a coat that Beyoncé wore for her British Harper’s Bazaar photo shoot.”
Another highlight is the haute couture sculptural coat by Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli, covered with Swarovski rhinestones, sequins, crystal-mesh, and vintage jewels. An enormous round collar frames the face, with large cylindrical sleeves that stand out away from the coat’s body.
For the best experience during your MFAH visit, be sure to pick up a map of all 36 fashion installations. You can also take advantage of free admission on Thursdays and the late viewing hours (until 9 p.m.) on Thursdays and Fridays.
WHAT: Louvre Couture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
WHEN: Through March 15, 2026
WHERE: MFAH, 1001 Bissonnet
INFO: mfah.org
