ROYAL STYLES: Fashion is a soft power that few have yielded with as much endurance, elegance and effect as Queen Sirikit of Thailand, who passed away on Oct. 24 at the age of 93.
This will be front and center at “Royal Thai dress, from tradition to modernity,” an exhibition slated to run from May 13 to Nov. 1 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.
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The late mother of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who spent her formative years in Thailand, London and Paris, was lauded for adroitly blending Western style, Eastern traditions and her homeland’s rich textile heritage.
From her first major royal tour across Europe in 1960 until her retreat from public life in 2012 following a stroke, she is credited with reinventing Thai royal style and championing her country’s culture and crafts.
More than 100 garments and accessories drawn from the royal family’s wardrobes offer a perspective on the country’s craft traditions in an exhibit curated by Béatrice Quette, who is in charge of Asian collections at the Paris museum.
Variation of the Thai Dusit court dress with double shoulder fabric by Erik Mortensen for Maison Balmain Paris, 1985, Collection of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles
Central to the exhibition are eight styles that compose Thai national dress, which Queen Sirikit designed in the 1960s in collaboration with a team of historians and Thai designers, drawing on traditional outfits.
Another focus will be the “unique history of cultural and artistic dialogue,” particularly with French designer Pierre Balmain, who often used Thai silk in his work for the royal. His use of the textile carried into his fashion house and embroidery specialist Lesage.
Organized in collaboration with Bangkok’s Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, which was established in 2012, and the Sustainable and Craft Institute of Thailand, the Paris exhibition dovetails with celebrations marking 340 years since the first contact between France and the then-Kingdom of Siam in 2025 and the 170th anniversary of Thai-French diplomatic relations in 2026.
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