The Louvre Museum in Paris last week opened an exhibition charting couture from the past 65 years – the first dedicated fashion show in its history. Held in the Department of Decorative Arts, a section of the museum filled with Napoleonic decor and other artefacts from old nobility, each look was selected to reflect the ongoing dialogue between the world of fashion and the department’s masterpieces, from the Middle Ages through to the 19th century.

What’s striking is that many of the looks on display – ranging from a Thierry Mugler coat-of-armour corset to a regal crimson gown by John Galliano for Dior – could easily have fitted within the most recent couture collections, also presented in Paris last week. The prevailing look echoed an old-world aesthetic, with corsets, crinolines and exaggerated busts highlighting a stereotypical version of the female form: the hourglass.