Street Couture: high-end fashion meets the street

From 10 January 2016 to 5 June 2016, Amsterdam's Museum of Bags and Purses presents the exhibition Street Couture. In it, the museum seeks to identify what sets haute couture apart from global street fashion. The Street Couture style is all about mixing and matching: high-end fashion combined with street fashion, sports with pop culture and Dutch with European design. The exhibition brings together couture classics from the museum's collection with street fashion from various parts of the world. It also takes a close look at the influence of street fashion on designers. 

Exciting crossovers

In the Street Couture exhibition, the Museum of Bags and Purses showcases couture classics, including designs by Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Dior and Alexander McQueen, that have been matched with exciting street fashion. Various parts of the world are represented - Japanese Shibuya girls wearing manga, lolita and gothic clothing combined with a classic Louis Vuitton bag and American hip-hop and sports outfits matched with Chanel. The exhibition also takes a close look at the influence of street fashion on designers. Examples include Marc Jacobs and Valentino who use camouflage prints on their bags. Or Dior, whose bags feature Andy Warhol-style prints. Designers also seek out collaboration with other disciplines, such as Louis Vuitton with conceptual artist Daniel Buren. This results in some exciting crossovers.

From Street Fashion to Street Couture
Street or urban fashion originates not from designers themselves, but from street culture. It is a style particularly associated with youth culture and is most common in large cities. It includes a

range of different styles, such as hip-hop, pop art, sports, shibuya or hipster, in which young people use clothes and accessories to create a personal style. It sets itself apart from mainstream fashion by emphasising the individual. Ironically however, mainstream fashion also adopts elements from street fashion. In its exhibition Street Couture the Museum of Bags and Purses seeks to identify what sets the different international forms of street fashion apart from high-end fashion.

The Museum of Bags and Purses

The Museum of Bags and Purses in Amsterdam has a collection of more than 5,000 bags that tell a story about fashion, art, customs and history. The museum is considered one of the 10 leading fashion museums of the world and possesses historic items dating from the 15th century to the timeless classics of modern design. The collection includes bridal bags, satchels, school bags, reticules, handbags, clutches, evening bags and designer bags created by famous fashion houses such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermès. The Museum of Bags and Purses is accommodated in a splendid canal-side building featuring two 17th-century period rooms and an inviting museum restaurant where visitors can enjoy lunch, a high tea, or a cup of coffee.