The "Dries Van Noten: Inspirations" exhibition, held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs adjacent to the Louvre, opened on March 1st during Paris Fashion Week (until August 31st).

I've been a buyer for the brand "Dries Van Noten" for over 20 years. I've also had the opportunity to speak with Dries himself on several occasions, which is why I was asked to write this article.

Shortly after receiving the request for this article during the Paris Collection, an amazing coincidence occurred. I had the incredible good fortune of having Dries himself personally guide me around the exhibition and explain it to me. I had seen the exhibition at the reception desk, but later, I wanted to see it again, so I was waiting in line to buy tickets. Patrick, a press representative for the company, spotted me and asked, "What are you doing?" He then invited me in, saying, "Come join us for a private viewing that's about to begin!" Dries was there, and I was given a personal tour of the exhibition for the next hour and a half... and that's how it all unfolded.

I've made this introduction quite long, but I can't imagine a greater stroke of luck or coincidence, and I would like to share the results(?).

"The Inspiration Exhibition is not a retrospective," says Dries. "As a fashion designer, it is the greatest happiness and honor for me to be able to hold an exhibition like this while I am still alive and active. What I wanted to express with this exhibition was to reveal what inspires my designs and, through the exhibit, invite people to journey inside my head. For me, fashion is not something that is created on the spot or by copying someone else's work. Furthermore, my sources of inspiration are diverse and cannot be limited to specific ones: paintings, movies, literature, newspapers, nature, flowers, objects I pick up by chance, or things I encounter on my travels. Moreover, ideas do not take shape directly from their source; rather, they gradually take shape as I tinker with them in my mind."

As Dries himself says, the sources of his ideas are truly diverse. Clothes by great fashion pioneers are also on display at the venue. Clothing worn by Yves Saint Laurent, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Kansai Yamamoto, Yohji Yamamoto, and Cecil Beaton from the Museum of Decorative Arts' own archives was borrowed from private collections.

The dynamism of the "Inspiration" exhibition lies in the fact that it embodies an unprecedented "universe of inspiration," made possible by borrowing not only from the Museum of Decorative Arts' own collection, but also from other sources, such as Giovanni Boldini from the Musée d'Orsay and Damien Hirst from the White Cube Gallery. More than 100 artworks are on display, including over 180 by Dries Van Noten. There is also a video piece created specifically for this exhibition.

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