From 19th-century bourgeois living rooms to installations by Margiela or Raf Simons, “Fashion & Interiors: A Gendered Affair” The MoMu in Antwerp offers an immersive journey through layers of fabric, folds of furniture, and the intricacies of identity. More than an exhibition, it's an invitation to rethink how we inhabit our spaces – our bodies as well as our living spaces.

The house as a mirror of gender

From the very first rooms, the tone is set. The home is no longer a mere backdrop, but a social stage in which every piece of furniture, every curtain, every bit of lace tells a story of gender. We discover how, in the 19th century, women were assigned the role of interior beautifiers, in an almost symbiotic relationship between their clothed bodies and their domestic environment. From crinoline dresses to tufted sofas, everything speaks of softness, of folds, of restraint. An aesthetic imposed as much as endured. The private becomes political. And every knick-knack placed on a mantelpiece can be read as a silent statement, an attempt at control—however limited—over a restricted space of freedom.

This is the subtlety of curator Romy Cockx's work: to show how, behind the apparent lightness of the fabrics, issues of power, representation, and domination are at play. What might seem merely ornamental becomes, on closer inspection, a tool of resistance. Here, the setting is never neutral.

Decluttering in order to exist

Then came the turning point. The dawn of modernity. Lines became more refined, spaces more rationalized. With Loos, Le Corbusier, Lilly Reich, and the Bauhaus, functionalism took precedence over ornamentation. Aesthetics changed. And so did roles. Femininity was no longer defined solely by the softness of a cushion, but by the rigor of a well-designed chair, by the angularity of a dress without a corset.

Perhaps this is where the exhibition hits the mark most accurately: in this pivotal moment where aesthetic liberation also becomes an emancipation of the body. By displaying structured clothing and radically designed furniture side by side, the MoMu illustrates the idea that fashion and interiors evolve in tandem. That our postures—literally—transform with the objects that surround us.

An armchair can straighten a back, but also assert a worldview. A dress can liberate a waist, but also a voice. And these everyday objects, long perceived as frivolous or decorative, become the protagonists of a feminist and critical narrative.

A total work of art

This idea of ​​an ongoing dialogue between disciplines runs throughout the exhibition. Henry van de Velde, a pioneer of Art Nouveau, already dreamed of a coherent universe where architecture, furniture, and clothing would speak the same language. Today, designers like Ann Demeulemeester, Raf Simons, and Hussein Chalayan extend this vision. For them, fashion is never isolated from the rest of the world: it draws inspiration from the walls, the textures, and the colors of the floor.

The MoMu's scenography delicately complements this idea. One doesn't simply wander through an exhibition, but rather traverses atmospheres. A tapestry evokes a memory, a silhouette appears in a mirror, a light fixture echoes a sleeve. The visitor is invited to feel, to see differently, to position themselves. Literally: Where am I in this interior? What does this piece of furniture say about me? What does this dress project onto my identity?

When space becomes a skin

What is most striking, ultimately, is the persistent impression that boundaries are blurring. Body and space are no longer two distinct entities, but porous surfaces. A dress can become a partition. A carpet can evoke an embrace. And certain installations in the exhibition push the experience to the sensory level. Space becomes tactile. One feels the velvet as much as the idea it conveys. One perceives the memory of a textile, a gesture, an era.

This is where "Fashion & Interiors: A Gendered Affair" truly comes into its own. For beyond the exhibited pieces—magnificent, often rare, always eloquent—it is a reflection on the senses that emerges. A way of saying that the things we wear and the spaces we inhabit form a language. That gender is not an abstract concept, but a concrete arrangement of objects, materials, and lines.

The intimate sphere as a field of action

In an era where the distinction between public and private is becoming increasingly blurred, this exhibition reminds us that the intimate sphere is a place of power. That our interior design choices, our clothing, our belongings are never neutral. That they shape how others see us. And how we see ourselves.

What the MoMu offers us here is a gentle yet determined reflection. A living room that speaks. A curtain that questions. A garment that answers. It's not spectacular, it's better: it's intelligent, subtly conceived, profoundly human.

MoMu – Antwerp Fashion Museum
From 29 March to 3 August 2025
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