The exhibition “Worth, Inventer la haute couture” at the Petit Palais revisits how Englishman Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895) became a key figure in the history of fashion and the founder of a fashion house that became the epitome of Parisian luxury (to Sept 7, 2025). Worth founded his eponymous fashion house —whose history spans four generations—in Paris (1858) at 7, rue de la Paix. He is credited with revolutionising the business of fashion… Many consider him “le père de la haute couture.”
In a chronological overview of La Maison Worth, from the Second Empire to the inter-war period, the exhibition reveals how Worth’s international vision made the label an undisputed “autorité de la mode” and Paris the world’s fashion capital. The Empress Eugénie appointed Worth as Napoleon III’s court designer. Along with royalty, he dressed leading performers of the day such as Sarah Bernhardt and also such prestigious clientele as Franca Florio, Lady Curzon and the emblematic Countess Greffulhe (who was the inspiration for Marcel Proust’s Duchesse de Guermantes). Paintings of fashionable ladies and social events by such artists as Carolus-Duran interspersed between mannequins transport the viewer back to Parisian evenings of Belle Epoque elegance.
The exhibition—a collaboration between Paris fashion museum Palais Galliera and the Petit Palais— brings together more than 400 works including dresses, objects, paintings, archival photos and films. La Maison Worth continued to operate under his descendants until 1952 and closed in 1956.
“Worth, Inventer la haute couture,” at the Petit Palais to Sept. 7, 2025.