Enfilade

Now on view at the Musée de la Mode et du Costume in Arles:

Amazons! Horsewomen and Fashion Icons

Musée de la Mode et du Costume, Arles, 22 May — 20 September 2026

Curated by Valerio Zanetti and Clément Trouche

Historically, horsemanship has played a crucial role in women’s emancipation. Since the Renaissance, specific costumes have been designed for each equestrian discipline, the consequences of which extend beyond purely visual and symbolic dimensions. Both the borrowing of elements from men’s wardrobes and the creation of new forms of dress prompted those who would soon be called ‘Amazons’ to question their position in society. The public is here invited to discover the history of these women, whose strength and beauty have often been as much fantasized as misunderstood.

The exhibition brings together over a hundred works, spanning a period from the Renaissance to the Revolution, from the Empire to the contemporary fashion runways. It showcases the evolution of Amazonian fashions, revealing how they allowed female riders and huntresses—as well as female politicians, strollers, and professional equestrians—to engage with and contribute to revolutionizing their identity, sometimes even making it a true raison d’être. Initially considered a challenge to traditional dress conventions, the Amazonian costume was gradually transformed into an essential element of the elegant woman’s wardrobe.

The 17th-century saddle of Queen Christina of Sweden, known as the ‘Amazon of the North’ or the ‘Gothic Amazon’, sits alongside equestrian portraits of illustrious women from the court of Louis XIV, reunited for the first time in almost 350 years. Portraits of La Grande Mademoiselle riding sidesaddle, of Marie Leszczynska in front of the Château de Fontainebleau, and, from the 19th century, drawings by Degas and Constantin Guys, all face the clothing of the Amazons of their time. Among these portraits, some depict one of the most famous Amazons of her era: the Empress of the French, Eugénie.

The exhibition includes loans from iconic national institutions. Among the Parisian institutions are the Petit Palais, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Musée Condé, the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée Carnavalet, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, as well as the Musée National de la Renaissance in Écouen, the châteaux of Compiègne and Cadillac, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans, Pau, Le Mans, Sceaux, and Libourne, and the Mucem and the Muséon Arlaten. Several British museums have also contributed, including the Fashion Museum of Bath, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, the Glove Collection Trust, Herfordshire Museum, and Norwich Museum. Equestrian practices play a vital role in British culture. Pieces from Swedish museums with significant collections complete the exhibition.

Amazones! Cavalières et icônes de mode (Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2026), 160 pages, ISBN: 978-8836664689, €30.