Marie Antoinette Style 

A fashion icon and one of the world’s first ‘celebrities’, Marie Antoinette not only shaped the fashion, design and decorative arts of her own time, but her influence continues over more than 250 years later. This era-spanning exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum traces the cultural impact of Marie Antoinette's style, and her ongoing inspiration for leading designers and creatives, from Sofia Coppola and Manolo Blahnik, to Moschino and Vivienne Westwood.

As part of this display, the world of Marie Antoinette has been brought to life with an interactive scent experience, designed by AVM Curiosities, that has re-created scents of the court and some of the cosmetics favoured by the Queen herself. The four fragrances, which are informed and inspired by historical research, are presented in 3D printed busts, modelled after Felix Lecomte's 1783 marble portrait of Marie Antoinette. The scents are:

Masquerade Ball at Versailles
Oak parquet floors, woody, beeswax candles, smoke,
warm, welcoming, floral shadows in the background.

Marie Antoinette’s Powder and Rouge
Floral, powdery, orris root, rose, lavender, tuberose, violet,
musk, jasmine, orange blossom.

Petit Trianon Gardens
Green, fresh, petrichor, grass, moss, hawthorn, lilac, rose,
lavender, honeysuckle, violet.

Marie Antoinette’s Prison Cell
Humid, damp, rank, dirty, fetid, faecal, bodily, wool,
straw, mildew, dark, cool, juniper.

Other objects on display include exceptional loans from the Château de Versailles, never before seen outside France, as well as key objects from the V&A’s own collection. Marie Antoinette shaped not just the fashion, design, interiors, gardens, fine and decorative arts of her own time, but has continued to exert an influence over more than two and a half centuries. Through theatrical staging and sensory experiences, this excessive, lavish and feminine style has come to life in this exhibition and set the stage for over 250 years of style reimagined again and again.

Marie Antoinette Style
Aromatic Installation by AVM Curiosities
In collaboration with CPL Aromas & Aroma Prime
Victoria & Albert Museum | London
20 September 2024 - 22 March 2026.