Adieu November tristesse – say hello to colour in these museums!

"Pierre Cardin. Fashion Futurist" is the title of a major retrospective of the designs of Pierre Cardin currently on show in the fashion and trade fair capital Düsseldorf. With more than 80 haute couture dresses, accessories, photos and film material, the exhibition offers a fascinating insight into the futuristic world of this exceptional designer. The exhibition includes androgynous outfits, visionary science fiction and space age pieces as well as elegant eveningwear.

Until 5 January 2020, Kunstpalast, Ehrenhof 4-5, 40479 Düsseldorf, Germany
www.kunstpalast.de

From practical everyday object to famous designs such as the "Kelly" and the "Birkin" bag and collectors' item: the "Bags – Icons & investments" exhibition in Basel focuses on the turbulent history of the world's most famous accessory: the handbag. Whether worn across the shoulder or carried by a handle, whether practical accessory for transporting items or status symbol by a luxury brand such as Louis Vuitton, Hermès or Prada: the shapes and functions of handbags are as different from each other as those who carry them. This exhibition is a journey through fashion history at a breakneck pace, illustrated with 400 historic and contemporary exhibits.

Until 5 April 2020, Spielzeug Welten Museum Basel, Steinenvorstadt 1,
4051 Basel, Switzerland, www.spielzeug-welten-museum-basel.ch

She is generally considered to be the inventor of the mini skirt: Mary Quant. Working in London, where she is now being celebrated with a retrospective in the renowned Victoria & Albert Museum, she revolutionised fashion in the 1960s. More than 200 pieces of clothing and accessories illustrate the period between 1955 and 1975, a time when the designer liberated women from the previously rigid, outdated fashion dictates and wrote fashion history with her colourful miniskirts, hot pants, tights and bright short rain coats.

Until 16 February 2020, Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road,
London SW7 2RL, UK www.vam.ac.uk

The legendary German designer Karl Lagerfeld died on 19 February 2019. A new exhibition at the Ernst Barlach Museum in Wedel, near Hamburg, is dedicated to the fashion creator's photographic works. Photography was one of his many talents; the selection of works on show ranges from architecture and landscapes to portraits and abstract images as well as fashion and lifestyle. Numerous self-portraits depict this multi-talented man as we know him: with a white ponytail, black sunglasses and an unfashionably high shirt collar.

Until 24 February 2020 at the Ernst Barlach Museum Wedel, Mühlenstrasse 1,
22880 Wedel, Germany

"Thierry Mugler: Couturissime" is the title of a retrospective that focuses on the designer Thierry Mugler. In the 1980s, the French designer was the enfant terrible of the fashion industry with his sculptural vinyl, latex and metal outfits. The performance by model Emma Sjöberg, whom he sent onto the catwalk in a chromed motorbike sculpture outfit complete with rear mirrors in the George Michael video for "Too funky", became legendary. Around 150 outfits, installations, videos and photos show the dazzling and colourful world of Thierry Mugler.

Until 8 March 2020 at Kunsthaal Rotterdam, Westzeedijk 341,
3015 AA Rotterdam, Netherland

Striped bodysuits and skirts made of single strips of fabric by Pierre Cardin, 1968
Jersey and wool, Archives Pierre Cardin, © Archives Pierre Cardin, photo: unknown