Inside ‘M&OTHERS’, the experimental exhibition dissecting the relationship between fashion and motherhood

A polished sterling silver necklace made up of the repeated word ‘MUM’ sits under a glass box at Modemuseum Hasselt in Belgium. Taken from Phoebe Philo’s eponymous debut exactly one year ago, the object’s place in ‘M&OTHERS’ – an exhibition that explores fashion through the rarely examined viewpoint of mother figures in all their forms – is symbolic of Philo’s influence beyond defining the look of the 2000s.

Whilst she was creative director at Chloé in 2005, Philo was the first high-profile female designer to take maternity leave, skipping a season to do so. She told the Evening Standard: ‘Having a baby is a serious, serious priority… I want to enjoy having a newborn and to protect my time in those precious first few months.’ 18 years later, the closing shot of the brand’s A/W 2024 show is of creative director Chemena Kamali and her young son in a warm embrace. The internet swooned. But how much progress has been made?

‘M&OTHERS’ fashion exhibition at Modemuseum Hasselt, Belgium

‘Everyone applauds Philo for taking leave but she was the lead designer. The people who worked with her, the people who still work behind the scenes across the whole industry don’t always have that same opportunity or support. A lot of artistic professions do not embrace motherhood, families or taking time for yourself. This is a story that needs to be told,’ co-curator Eve Demoen says.

Together with Karen Van Godtsenhoven, the pair unpack the challenge of fashion-making and having a family. Within fashion museology, there has been surprisingly little research on the topic. What does exist focuses more on objects of design that relate to labour and rearing children. Michelle Millar Fisher and Amber Winick’s book and exhibition Designing Motherhood was an important source but beyond this, visits to the archives of Yves Saint Laurent, Sonia Rykiel and Lanvin gave the curators a chance to look at fashion history afresh. ‘We also spoke to so many people, designers like Meryll Rogge who learned she was pregnant at the same time she debuted her own line in 2020. Ann Demeulemeester was the same – she launched her house whilst carrying her son.’

The show also documents the legacy of male designers influenced by their mothers. Lucienne Saint Laurent introduced her son – the young Yves – to the world of fashion, theatre and cinema via the pages of glossy magazines. A paper doll that the designer made at the age of 17 using cuttings of them has pride of place in the exhibition alongside personal family photographs. The Musée Yves Saint Laurent preserves 11 dolls, more than 400 costumes, and 100 accessories made during the same period 1953-54.

‘We see so many celebrations of motherhood and pregnancy today on the catwalk and in the media, but it's so interesting to see what the evolution has been,’ Demoen says. When a naked, seven-month pregnant Demi Moore posed on the cover of Vanity Fair for its August 1991 issue, some shops stacked it in the pornography section or refused to sell it. The cover is included in the show alongside Rhianna, radiant in her third trimester on the cover of American Vogue's May 2022 issue, wearing a red lace bodysuit.

‘M&OTHERS’ is a timely show and, as the title suggests, the curators are keen to expand our notions of female nurturing. ‘I don’t think you need to be a mother, a biological mother, to get into the subject but it helps if you have been a mentor or carer.’ The exhibition includes an installation by FOR ALL QUEENS! (FAQ!) a collective made up of people that have found themselves going from church to club to ballroom, an altar to Madeleine Vionnet – ‘the queen mother of couture’ as The New York Times described her in 1954 – and a look from John Galliano’s S/S 2001 Christian Dior Haute Couture collection which is a paean to the idealised fifties housewife.

The curators explore the reproductive functions of the biological female body as a common source of veneration and misogyny in Western culture. One section is provocatively called ‘Monsters,’ highlighting how women’s bodies are contested, discussed, and reviled. ‘That’s the good thing about being in Hasselt and not in a central city like Brussels, Antwerp, London or Paris,’ Demoen says. ‘We can be a bit more experimental. I think many visitors to the museum arrive thinking they are going to see an overview of maternity wear from the 19th century up until today, which of course is not what they get.’

‘M&OTHERS. Fashion and Motherhood’ at Modemuseum Hasselt runs until 5 January 2025.

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