GUARDIANS of the Past

There's a famous saying: what's old is new again. In fashion, nothing could be truer. From the emergence of archival gems to renewed inspiration from the best of what's been, more and more brands are looking behind to create what's next.

- GORDON NG

The more things change, the more they stay the same. That roughly sums up a trend suffusing the luxury fashion industry: brands are increasingly going back to their roots. It’s only in the recent few decades that the histories and archives of heritage brands became truly critical. The idea of a brand or designer’s “DNA” is a recent invention, largely because the era of eponymous founders began to pass into the next generation. The biggest players in fashion are named after people, and as successor designers and creative directors take over, the starting modus operandi is often a trip to the archives. Whether for inspiration or aesthetic immersion, history has become indispensable.

Haute couture reimagined

The house of Dior is one brand that has made a truly concerted effort with its archives, with results to show for it to boot. Its Designer of Dreams exhibition, conceived in 2017 for its 70th anniversary, was first staged at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Since then, it’s been on a tour around the world: at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Victoria & Albert in London, and most recently, in Tokyo’s Museum of Contemporary Art. It’s now past the 75th anniversary of the house’s founding, yet still its trove of historical haute couture creations and objects continues to fascinate and educate. It’s nothing to scoff at; with more than half a million visitors, Dior’s run at the V&A has actually become the most-visited show in the museum’s history.