Berlin's Kunstgewerbemuseum presents the first major Madame Grès retrospective in the German-speaking world
Exhibition "Many Shades of Grès". Photo: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / David von Becker.
BERLIN.—
Outstanding fashion by one of the most important pioneers of 20th-century haute couture, alongside student designs inspired by her work – the Kunstgewerbemuseum (KGM, Museum of Applied Arts) presents, for the first time in the German-speaking world, the fascinating work of French fashion designer Madame Grès (1903–1993). At the heart of the exhibition is the KGM's collection of 25 Grès models, one of the largest outside of Paris which was Grès’ creative base. In collaboration with the School of Culture and Design of the University of Applied Sciences Berlin (HTW), the exhibition explores the extraordinary couturière's from various perspectives.
Germaine Émilie Krebs began her career in the early 1930s under the name Mademoiselle Alix, co-founding the fashion house "Alix Barton" with Julie Barton. One of the most significant objects in the Kunstgewerbe-museum’s collection from this period is a shimmering evening blouse made of net fabric adorned with faceted gemstones. After 1937, she changed her name to Alix Grès, and eventually became known in fashion history as "Madame Grès."
She gained fame for her floor-length, pleated dresses, which were inspired by ancient sculptures. Madame Grès, who reportedly wanted to be-come a sculptor, designed dresses for icons like Grace Kelly, Greta Garbo, and Marlene Dietrich. The timeless elegance of her designs, refer-encing classical antiquity, underscores her enduring relevance. The exhibition highlights this important aspect by showcasing her work alongside artifacts from the Antikensammlung, the Skulpturensammlung and Museum of Byzantinische Kunst and the Gemäldegalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
Madame Grès’ handling of fabric is unparalleled. Several meters of fabric are gathered, folded, and draped into just a few centimeters, creating an impressive volume. Madame Grès, who left behind few personal statements, once shared with the press that she would design on the model rather than on the table, and that her scissors were her most important tool.
What is particularly fascinating is the refinement with which she would transform a fundamentally simple pattern into a highly complex sculpture on the body.
It is precisely these aspects that captivated the students of the Berlin Uni-versity of Applied Sciences and with which they chose to engage. Their designs are contemporary interpretations of selected pieces by Grès housed at the KGM, representing nearly sixty years of her work. The in-depth study of the original dresses in workshops led by Katrin Lindemann and Christian Mau de la Cerda not only fostered a profound understand-ing of the techniques, materiality, and specific materials of the historical models but also resulted in impressive, independent creations from the fields of fashion design, apparel technology, knitwear, photography, com-munication design, museology, and visual arts (3D).
The exhibition is divided into nine sections, showcasing around 150 diverse exhibits that can be interpreted as cross-references to the 25 models by Madame Grès, which literally take center stage. The displays include clothing on busts and mannequins, accessories, graphics, drawings, photographs, sculptures, textile objects, and multimedia installations (films, projections). These are complemented by student contributions and contextualizing works, such as sculptures, paintings, photographs, graphics, films, and virtual elements.
A section of the exhibition is dedicated to the sculptural design of Madame Grès, featuring in-depth analyses of both Grès models and student works from the fields of fashion design, apparel technology, and digital fashion design. Artist Maija Schultz engages with Grès' cutting techniques in her installations, translating them into digital models. A standout feature of the exhibition is the reimagining of a Grès dress in standard size 48 – an act that directly challenges the classical ideal of beauty.
Volume is the central theme in one of the most extensive sections of the exhibition. Previously unseen objects by Madame Grès, including coats, capes, and bloomers, vividly demonstrate her approach to cutting and pleating techniques. The student works reinterpret these techniques into a new language of forms and materials, such as knitwear and functional tex-tiles.
A virtual space invites visitors to navigate it and explore the digitally created student designs, which emerged from a collaboration between digital fashion design (Maija Schultz) and game designers from HTW.
What are the design implications of layering fabrics? The play with trans-parency and layers is at the center of this section. Grès' selection of delicate fabrics, such as mousseline or crêpe de Chine, serves as the starting point for student interpretations from the fields of fashion design and pat-tern construction.
A topic that has been marginally addressed in research to date is surface design. The Kunstgewerbemuseum preserves particularly delicate pieces that reveal Grès’ engagement with non-European inspirations, embroideries, and material combinations, which have been little recognized until now. These previously unknown models complement the well-known Grès fold, expanding the multifaceted richness of this outstanding fashion de-signer.
The degree programs in Museum Studies und Communications Design at the HTW conclude the exhibition by presenting a museological engage-ment with the objects and the contemporary perspective on the Grès brand.
A publication is being released to mark the exhibition:
Grès, Paris. Made in France, edited for the Kunstgewerbemuseum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin by Sibylle Hoiman, Berlin 2026.
ISBN 978-3-88609-914-6, 224 pages, 33 Euros.
