With its Art, Culture, and Heritage division, ESMOD aims to position itself as a cultural force in fashion

The ESMOD fashion school has strengthened its partnership with Printemps Haussmann through the event “La veste dans tous ses états” (The Jacket in All Its Forms) and the “Vestologie” exhibition. For the occasion, a selection of exceptional pieces from the school’s study collection, previously unknown to the general public, was exhibited alongside those of leading Parisian fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Lanvin. The event is part of the initiatives undertaken by ESMOD’s Art, Culture, and Heritage department, created in March 2024. Sylvie Marot, director of the division, told FashionUnited about the school’s desire to position itself as a major cultural player in fashion in the future.

Observation

ESMOD boasts a heritage of over 180 years. While many brands, outside of museums and major houses, have sought to highlight their heritage for over a decade, fashion schools have shown little interest in their own until recently. Over the past ten years, ESMOD has begun to explore its own legacy, thanks to the painstaking research of Claire Wargnier, then director of publications and heritage at the school.

Her work reveals a rich collection bequeathed by Alexis Lavigne, his daughters, and granddaughters. It includes a significant number of books, magazines, and other editorial content. “They enriched fashion literature, through pedagogical methods but also illustrated fashion magazines that have now been completely forgotten,” explains Sylvie Marot, who hopes to bring them back to the forefront.

The Art, Culture, and Heritage division encompasses three departments: publishing, documentation, and heritage. The school’s director, Véronique Beaumont, has made the strategic decision to focus on this cultural aspect of the school to leverage it for communication and recognition. Sylvie Marot explains that it is also an excellent working tool—which includes a documentation center—for students and, more broadly, industry professionals.

Expertise

To lead this ambitious project, ESMOD called upon the expertise of Sylvie Marot, appointed director of the Art, Culture, and Heritage division. A fashion heritage consultant, teacher, and curator, she has over 20 years of significant experience in the fashion industry.

Sylvie Marot began her career at the Saint-Étienne Museum of Art and Industry, where she revitalized a contemporary fashion and haute couture acquisition policy. In the early 2000s, she joined the French ready-to-wear brand Marithé et François Girbaud, which at the time wanted to structure its heritage department—a pioneering approach for a company not operating in the luxury sector. Her adventure with the brand ended with its liquidation after she directed a book and a monographic exhibition.

For over 10 years, Sylvie Marot has supported fashion brands, private and public collectors, and museums on preservation and enhancement projects, notably through exhibitions and publications. Driven by a “love of craftsmanship and its transmission,” she joined the Lyon Fashion University in 2017 to develop a teaching unit dedicated to fashion heritage.

She is now the director of the new Art, Culture, and Heritage division at the ESMOD fashion school, ready to take on new challenges.

Future Projects

“I can’t reveal everything. But one thing is certain: many things are in the works, both within the division and the school more broadly,” teases Sylvie Marot. She emphasizes that significant groundwork has been laid and remains to be done, which will not be immediately visible to the general public.

In just a few months, the Art, Culture, and Heritage department has collaborated on two major exhibitions: “Vestologie” at Printemps Haussmann, curated by Sylvie Marot and Marlène Van de Casteele, and “Corps In-visibles” at the Rodin Museum, for which ESMOD loaned a selection of archives. Starting in February, the “L’art du Drag” (The Art of Drag) exhibition will showcase the creativity of three alumni.

Looking ahead, the school aims to forge lasting partnerships with influential players in the museum world to participate in and support cultural events: for example, the recent collaboration with the International Council of Museums and Costumes (ICOM).

“The idea is to pursue projects where we are not expected,” says Sylvie Marot, adding that a new publication is currently in preparation. With the Art, Culture, and Heritage division, which also finds synergy with the ESMOD research laboratory (which recently organized a two-day study on Vogue magazine), the objective is to increase ESMOD’s visibility among the general public, but also within the cultural and research community. Thus, the department is working on building a database based on the digitization of its archives: a long-term but necessary undertaking.