Girls. Adolescence, mode, rébellion

An age of metamorphosis and of all its contradictions, adolescence continues to feed our imagination. Discover how artists, fashion designers, photographers and filmmakers explore and reinvent representations of the figure of the young girl. For a long time reduced to a handful of clichés, confined to images of tenderness, innocence or fragility, the figure of the young girl has rarely been considered for its emotional, psychological, or political depth. Yet its world is teeming with symbols and unsuspected forces.

Bringing together works of art, clothing, accessories, photographs, film excerpts, archives and everyday objects, the exhibition brings the perspectives of multidisciplinary artists into dialogue and shows how female adolescence remains a source of inspiration for contemporary creation. From Louise Bourgeois to Sofia Coppola, from Martin Margiela to Simone Rocha or Jenny Fax, the works explore the multiple facets of being a girl and challenge the rigid notion that Western art has long imposed on them.

Restrictive or liberating outfits, subverted archetypes, memories of boredom or daydreams, images circulated by magazines: across five thematic sections, the journey explores the multiple representations of female adolescence and shows how they have evolved over time.

Designed in dialogue with teenage girls and boys, in an inclusive approach open to the full diversity of genders and people, the exhibition Girls. Adolescence, Fashion, Rebellion at the Grand Palais invites you to look at this period of life and the representations that continue to shape our imagination in a new light.

This exhibition was conceived and organized by MoMu - the Fashion Museum of Antwerp - and adapted for the Grand Palais RMN.

Curators: Elisa De Wyngaert, art and fashion historian and curator at MoMu – Fashion Museum of Antwerp.

Scenography: Janina Pedan and Scenografia Agency (Nicolas Groult, Valentina Dodi, Lucie Le Goff).