Paf atelier and Anette Lenz go bold for an exhibition on Paul Poiret

Women can enjoy their full lung capacity thanks to Paul Poiret, the early 20th-century fashion designer who freed women from the restraints of the corset. Poiret revolutionized haute couture by introducing new, modern forms like loose fits and drapery. Today his work is honored with a retrospective at Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs, open through January 2026. The design of Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast by Paf atelier rightly goes bold and bright for the icon who subverted fashion’s forms. Designed in collaboration with graphic designer Anette Lenz, the museography uses simple geometry as a visual and functional tool.

paf atelier design museum on fashion designer — A catwalk runs through the exhibition like a central axis (Luc Boegly)

The exhibition spans two levels, organized into 12 rooms that are laid out both chronologically and thematically. A central catwalk connects the rooms together. It runs through openings that unite the rooms like a funky enfilade. At times, new walls are inserted to intersect and interrupt the catwalk with display cases and ephemera.

wall modules at fashion exhibit — Demountable walls conceal power cords while incorporating sculptural display cases (Luc Boegly)

anette lenz helps design exhibit — Graphic designer Anette Lenz helped create the bold stripes and checkerboard patterns (Luc Boegly)

Paf atelier designed these wall modules as self-supporting, demountable, and open at the top to improve ventilation. Intersecting the axis of the catwalk at an angle, the modules incorporate plinths and or glass cases to display more work, while providing discrete access to power cables. Some modules are more than a linear wall, one of them takes the shape of an “X,” which is designed to host works in 360-degree angles.

paul poriet designs on display — Striped and linear modules reflect the courtier’s emphasis on flatness and planarity (Christophe Dellière/Arts Décoratifs Paris)

Paf atelier and Anette Lenz’s graphic treatments both bring the spirit of Poiret’s work to life and help ensure the flow of the space. Each of the 12 rooms captures the rhythms and variation of Poiret. Each is also clad in bold colors and simple geometry. Circular forms, stripes, and color blocking mimic the ways Poiret, who emphasized straight lines and rectangles, turned curvy silhouettes to two-dimensional forms of a certain flatness.

blue and striped exhibition in paris — The exhibition is organized into 12 rooms, laid out by theme and chronology (Luc Boegly)

paf atelier use color blocking in museum des art decoratifs — Bold colors and graphics capture the subversive spirit of Paul Poriet (Luc Boegly)

The linear walls and graphic striations play with this planarity. With each zone defined by a set of colors, patterns and hues establish each room and the pathway through them. The design of the exhibit—which organizes 550 works, one of which is by Poiret collaborator and architect Louis Süe—attempts to abolish any hierarchies between pieces. The punchy forms help accomplish this, giving emphasis to smaller works while offering a colorful platform for all of them.

red walls with circular display case — Cylindrical display cases break up the rectilinear designs (Luc Boegly)

The spatial and visual approach amounts to an immersive experience that captures the couturier’s daring designs. It’s a good fit.

Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast is on view at Musée des Arts Décoratifs until January 2026.

Paf atelier collaborates with graphic designer Anette Lenz on a bold, geometric exhibition about Paul Poiret for Musée des Arts Décoratifs

Playing in Planar

.cls-1 { fill: #1d1d1b; }