“The Collection”: A Tale in 5 Acts

In 1908 Delvaux lodged the first world patent for a women’s leather handbag, becoming the inventor of the modern handbag. Never seen before by the public, this very creation, ‘le Princesse,’ will be on display. Guests will be able to explore a slice of Delvaux’s historical museum outside the walls of its Brussels headquarters, L’Arsenal.
Placed inside an amphitheatrical setting, the collection provides a dramatic glimpse into over a century of bold innovation and creativity, cementing Delvaux’s place as a pioneering force in luxury.

Not long thereafter, the Surrealist movement emerged, dreamlike, with the publication of André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto in 1924. To celebrate its centenary and Delvaux’s patronage of the “Surréalisme” exhibit at Centre Pompidou, this collection pays tribute to la Maison’s long-standing relationship with Belgian Surrealist René Magritte.

This season, Delvaux’s atelier not only expands its surrealist vocabulary with complex embroidery and printing of Magritte’s iconography onto its emblematic styles, but transcends interpretations of the artist’s masterpieces to create a language all its own with inventive, unexpected additions to the Vagabond and Brillant families.

Born from shared values, Delvaux and the artist Harry Nuriev are a harmonious blend of contrasts. Nuriev’s use of cool, resolutely utilitarian materials like steel, mirror and lacquer, provided the perfect complement to the warm sensuality of Delvaux’s materials and designs.

Known for his radical designs that blur the lines between the real and the virtual, and keen to incorporate historic layers into his designs, Nuriev’s imaginative scenography responds both to the 18th Century setting, as well as Delvaux’s multilayered collections, without compromising any of its integrity. His utterly timely aesthetic is the perfect match for Delvaux’s timelessness, allowing both to move forward along a profoundly unique continuum, where the past, present, and future of Delvaux’s craftsmanship converge.