Marie Antoinette Style at V&A review
The V&A’s Marie Antoinette Style, sponsored by Manolo Blahnik, is being hailed as the first landmark exhibition in the UK devoted to France’s most infamous Queen of Fashion. It is a glittering journey through silk, flamboyance and legacy. Triumphantly sparkling, the exhibition is another V&Aesque glory, dazzling visitors with its ambition, drama and sheer spectacle.
Marie Antoinette Style. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Presented in chronological order, the exhibition traces Marie Antoinette’s evolution into a cultural myth. The display of court life, lavish dresses and jewels, glorious portrait paintings by none other than Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, delicate fans, ornamented furnishings, and even the scents of Versailles, ease our journey through her life, from glory to demise. Marie Antoinette embraced extravagance, beauty, power and resistance, which, in the end, made her known as history’s most infamous Fashionista Queen.
As the V&A does best, the exhibition focuses on fashion, historic and contemporary alike. It includes couture pieces by renowned designers such as Dior, Chanel, Valentino, Vivienne Westwood and Erdem, as well as costumes created for the screen, including those for Sofia Coppola’s celebrated film Marie Antoinette. And who can forget the Manolo Blahnik shoes designed for the film? They are on display, and a delight in their own right. The inclusion of visually stunning modern couture pieces links the Queen’s influence to contemporary fashion narratives, highlighting the enduring legacy Marie Antoinette left behind.
Manolo Blahnik shoes, Marie Antoinette Style, V&A. Image credit Massoumeh Safinia
The presence of rare personal items owned and worn by the Queen, some never before seen outside Versailles or France, is a particular triumph. From her silk slippers and exquisitely designed garment fragments, to monogrammed objects and even her final note on the morning of her execution, these items offer an intimate glimpse of this ill-fated fashion icon.
Marie Antoinette can be regarded as one of history’s earliest influencers. Her aesthetic choices continue to resonate in the modern era, visible in art, fashion, film and the decorative arts. In contemporary terms, what a remarkable reach this influencer has had!
Kate Moss, Fashion: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Julian d’Ys, The Ritz, Paris, 2012, for Vogue US, April 2012 issue.
This blockbuster exhibition delivers beauty, glamour, sparkle, power, triumph, downfall and tragedy. It reminds us why Marie Antoinette was controversial, why she was the celebrity of her time, and how she continues to influence centuries after her execution. It traces the cultural impact she had in her lifetime, and how it endures to the present day. The exhibition is spectacular, a space where fashion and power intersect, and it succeeds brilliantly in showing why Marie Antoinette is indeed the Queen of Style.
Date: 20 September 2025 - 22 March 2026. Location: V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL. Price: Weekday £23 / Weekend £25. Concessions available. Book now
Words by Massoumeh Safinia
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