Olivier Saillard is a qualified art historian. He was appointed director of the Musée des Arts décoratifs, de la Faïence et de la Mode of Marseille in 1995. In 2000 he became head of programming for the “Mode” series of exhibitions at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and in 2010 director at Palais Galliera, the Museum of Fashion of the city of Paris. Since 2017, he serves as the director of Fondation Azzedine Alaïa and since 2018 as artistic director of Visual Arts and
Culture for J.M. Weston brand. He has written several books, among others “Histoire idéale de la mode contemporaine: Les plus beaux défilés de 1971 à nos jours” (Textuel, 2009), “Le Bouquin de la mode” (Robert Laffont, 2019), and has organized significant exhibitions such as “Yohji Yamamoto: Juste des vêtements,” “Christian Lacroix: Histoires de Mode” at Musée des Arts décoratifs, “Azzedine Alaïa” and “Jeanne Lanvin” at Palais Galliera, “Madame Grès, la couture à l’œuvre” and “Balenciaga, l’œuvre au noir” at Musée Bourdelle, and more recently “Le musée éphémère de la mode” in Palazzo Pitti, Florence. In 2005, Olivier Saillard was honored with the Villa Kujoyama award in Kyoto.
Since then, alongside his work as a historian, he has presented an array of poetic ruminations in the form of performance, such as “The Impossible Wardrobe,” “Eternity Dress,” “Cloakroom—Vestiaire obligatoire” and most recently “Embodying Pasolini” with Tilda Swinton in the framework of Paris Autumn Festival. Other performances include “Models Never Talk,” “Sur-exposition” with Charlotte Rampling, and “Couture essentielle.” In the last twenty years, he has presented around thirty shows in total. In 2018, he founded “Moda Povera,” a clothing design business imbued with a poetic, performative, and pedagogical spirit, where common and plain garments acquire prestige through the expertise and techniques deep-seated in haute couture.
Olivier Saillard and Tilda Swinton:
“The Impossible Wardrobe” (2012)
“Eternity Dress” (2013)
“Cloakroom—Vestiaire obligatoire” (2014)
“Sur-exposition” (along with Charlotte Rampling, 2016)
“Embodying Pasolini” (2022)
