Isabelle de Borchgrave

Isabelle de Borchgrave is a Belgian sculptor and painter. Following her studies at the Centre des Arts Decoratifs in the Académie Royal des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Isabelle worked in advertising for a few months before deciding to dedicate herself to clothing and interior design. She has worked with iconic hotels such as the Cipriani in Venice, as well as private homes and boutiques such as Hermes in Paris. A visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1994 inspired a new project created in collaboration with her friend Rita Brown. The project revolved around the design and creation of a collection of costumes entirely made from paper. The collection, Papier à la Mode, was an immediate success and marked a decisive turning point in her career.

Using her meticulous mastery of paper and paint, Isabelle de Borchgrave creates sculptural replicas of historic clothing that have had an impact on Europe’s fashion history. She has dedicated herself to the creation of sculptural paper works, ranging from her recreations of iconic historic clothing, such as the headdress worn by Marie Antoinette, to contemporary paper creations for the fashion industry, such as oversized roses for John Galliano’s haute couture Christian Dior Collection. In addition to her iconic collections, Isabelle has also worked on private commissions, such as the recreation of Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding dress for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, USA.

Isabelle Borchgrave’s Papier à la Mode collection draws its inspiration from over 300 years of clothing design, using iconic models such as those worn by Elizabeth I and those designed by Coco Chanel. This collection was first presented in 1998 during her exhibition Paper à la Mode held in the Musée de l’Impression in Mulhouse, France. The collection met with wide-ranging acclaim, and as it left to tour, de Borchgrave created additional pieces inspired by the wardrobes of other iconic names in fashion, such as Marie Antoinette and Empress Eugénie. She has since worked on three other collections of paper dresses: “Mariano Fortuny”, “I Medici” and “Les Ballets Russes”. Several of her costumes now feature in the permanent collections of prominent museums around the world, such as the Palace of Versailles, France, and the Tsarskoye Selo in St Petersburg, Russia.

Magnae Chartae Exhibition