Editor’s Note
This article previews an exhibition exploring the enduring influence of Art Deco on fashion, tracing its origins in 1920s consumer culture to its lasting appeal today. The show runs at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum until January 25, 2026.
An exhibition that traces the influence of “Art Deco,” the decorative style that swept the world in the 1920s, on fashion and unravels its meaning and charm that still resonates today has begun at the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum. The exhibition runs until January 25, 2026.
In the 1920s, following the end of World War I, a vibrant consumer culture blossomed in France. New values and lifestyles, shaped by the Enlightenment and backed by industrial and technological advancements, gave rise to a distinct decorative trend. This trend influenced the world, extending beyond architecture, painting, and sculpture to encompass all aspects of lifestyle design, including interiors and clothing. This decorative style, later named “Art Deco,” originated from the “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes” (Art Deco Exposition) held in Paris in 1925.
2025 marks exactly 100 years since that Art Deco Exposition. This commemorative exhibition traces the “mode” (fashionable attire) of a century ago. It brings together over 300 items, centered on approximately 60 select dresses and about 200 archival materials from the Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI), which boasts one of the world’s premier collections, supplemented by contemporary paintings, crafts, and graphic works. It promises to be a splendid time travel experience, showcasing not only the magnificence and beauty of the luxurious and innovative haute couture collection but also allowing visitors to feel how the meaning behind the designs, the society they reflected, and aspects from material and production techniques to advertising methods resonate and connect with the present day.
In the prologue “Art Deco—The Germination of Modern Fashion,” symbolized by dresses and jewelry in the exhibition, one can feel the resonance with today in the “modernité” (modernity) of fashion, which entered a new phase for women who became significantly more active compared to the previous century.
Art Deco and Fashion: Focusing on the Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI) Collection
Period: October 11, 2025 – January 25, 2026
Venue: Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum
Address: 2-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial)
Hours: 10:00 – 18:00 (Until 20:00 on Fridays, the second Wednesday of each month, and weekdays during the final week of the exhibition, except January 2) *Last admission 30 minutes before closing.
Closed: Mondays (except national holidays and substitute holidays; open on October 27, November 24, December 29, January 19), December 31, January 1
Admission: General 2,300 yen / University & College Students 1,300 yen / High School Students 1,000 yen / Junior High School Students and under Free (Magic Hour: General 1,600 yen after 17:00 on the second Wednesday of each month)
*Sparkle Coord Discount: 100 yen off the day’s admission fee for visitors wearing sparkling fashion items during the exhibition period.