La Mode en Majesté: Royal Thai Dress from Tradition to Modernity

21 June 2026, by Dolla Merrillees

In this week’s blog post, Costume Society member Dolla Merrillees reviews La Mode en Majesté: Royal Thai Dress from Tradition to Modernity at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, until November 1st 2026.

Royal wardrobes have long been the object of public fascination and scrutiny. Yet royal dress has rarely been simply a matter of personal taste or preference.  Across cultures and throughout history, court attire has operated as a sophisticated language of power, in which textiles, colour, ornament and ceremony communicated status and authority.

British fashion designer Amanda Wakeley, who has dressed Diana, Princess of Wales, and more recently Catherine, Princess of Wales, describes so-called "flag" or diplomatic dressing as "one of the most immediate visual signals". Clothing is not merely worn but strategically deployed as a form of soft power. In this context, fashion becomes a diplomatic tool, “a gesture of respect and solidarity” that projects national identity while fostering cultural and political ties abroad.

Long before Diana and Catherine became influential ambassadors for British fashion, Queen Sirikit (1932-2025), wife of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) of Thailand understood that clothing could communicate the character and aspirations of a nation to the world. Celebrated as a “style icon”, she brought a new sense of glamour to the Thai monarchy at a time when the country was seeking to definite its place in a rapidly changing post-war world.

This intersection of fashion, diplomacy and national representation lies at the heart of La Mode en Majesté. Organised in partnership with the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles and SACIT (The Sustainable Arts and Crafts Institute of Thailand), the exhibition coincides with the commemoration of more than three centuries of relations between Thailand, formerly the Kingdom of Siam, and France. 

Curated by Béatrice Quette, the exhibition unfolds across seven galleries and brings together nearly 200 garments, accessories, textiles, photographs and works by contemporary Thai designers. Together, they trace the evolution of Thai court dress and its projection on the international stage from the 1960s to the present day. At its centre is Sirikit's pivotal role in modernising court dress and her long-standing collaboration with the French couturier Pierre Balmain. 

“The exhibition grew out of a desire to reconnect with this history and to emphasise the relationship between Thailand and France,” says Quette. While it can be read as a carefully orchestrated exercise in cultural diplomacy, she also sees it as “a natural fit for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD), given its longstanding engagement with fashion, textiles and craftsmanship.”

The opening section explores these connections and the role of dress as a diplomatic tool. Of particular interest are ten photographs drawn from an album dedicated to Siam in the collection of the MAD. Assembled by Alfred Koechlin-Schwartz during his travels through Southeast Asia in the late nineteenth century, the album offers a glimpse into what Quette describes as "an important period of cultural exchange", adding that several of the photographs were previously unknown even to the exhibition's Thai collaborators. They include portraits of members of the Siamese royal family, scenes of court life, temples and architectural landmarks, among them Dusit Palace, a striking architectural hybrid that combines Thai and European influences. This dialogue between East and West also extends to the exhibition design, where Studio Formule subtly draws on the architecture of Thailand’s royal palaces to create a restrained setting for the displays.

This section also examines Queen Sirikit's role in the development of Chud Thai Phra Ratchaniyom (Thai outfits of royal favour), a suite of eight formal styles ranging from the relatively informal Ruean Ton to the more ceremonial Chakri, Boromphiman and Dusit. "These forms," Quette explains, "were intended not only for women at court but as a national wardrobe for Thai women more broadly."
 

Having become an integral part of Thailand's sartorial language, these styles continue to be worn today. Historical garments are displayed alongside contemporary examples, demonstrating the enduring influence of the principles established by Sirikit. Among them are a Thai Chakri ensemble of silk and metal-thread brocade worn by Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana when welcoming the Governor-General of Australia, David Hurley AC DSC, during his official visit to Thailand in 2024, and a Thai Boromphiman worn by the Queen at a reception hosted by King Charles III for visiting heads of state in 2023.

Much of the second part of the exhibition centres on the decades-long collaboration between Sirikit and Balmain, a partnership that began in 1960 when she commissioned him to create her wardrobe for a historic state tour of fifteen countries. Reproductions of Balmain's fashion sketches from 1957 to 1981 reveal both the longevity of their relationship and the evolution of his design approach. Initially, Balmain presented Sirikit as a thoroughly modern monarch, drawing on the elegance and sophistication of contemporary French haute couture. Over time, however, he increasingly incorporated elements inspired by Thai dress and textile traditions while retaining the precision and structure of French tailoring.

"That was Balmain's great talent," says Quette. "His ability to move between those worlds was remarkable." The synthesis is epitomised by the Nuit à Londres evening gown (1960). European in appearance at first glance, the dress is crafted from Thai silk and incorporates details drawn from traditional Thai costume, giving tangible form to Balmain's belief that "a Queen's wardrobe forms part of her country's history" (MAD Press Kit 2026).

The relationship with French couture did not end with Balmain. It extended to the intricate embroidery of François Lesage, an evening gown by John Galliano for Christian Dior and, after Balmain's death, the work of his successor Erik Mortensen, who continued to reinterpret traditional Thai silhouettes, as seen in the mat mii (ikat) silk Thai-style ensemble of 1982.

Yet the exhibition is not solely concerned with the evolution of dress. Equally compelling is the way it allows visitors to witness Sirikit’s own transformation across more than half a century. The changing silhouettes speak not only of shifting fashions but of a woman ageing in public view. In an era when fashion often privileges youth and idealised bodies, the cumulative effect is a poignant reminder that dress accompanies us through every stage of life.

The final section of the exhibition turns to the craftsmanship that underpins Thai dress traditions, from handwoven textiles and intricate embroidery to contemporary reinterpretations by designers such as Asava, Vatit Itthi and the atelier of Princess Sirivannavari. As Quette notes, many of the couturiers and makers who worked for the royal court were never credited for their work. The result is a reminder that the history of Thai dress has been shaped not only by monarchs and designers but also by generations of highly skilled yet largely anonymous makers. It is perhaps a missed opportunity, then, that the contemporary designers featured in the exhibition are given relatively little space to explain their own work and its relationship to these traditions.

For more than half a century, Sirikit successfully navigated the demands of public life, much of that success deriving from a keen understanding of the power of dress. What emerges from the exhibition is not simply a wardrobe but a meticulously curated narrative of identity and public presentation, constructed through clothing and refined over the course of a lifetime. It is a powerful exercise in self-fashioning, though one that reveals far more about the image Sirikit projected than the person herself. 

La Mode en Majesté: Royal Thai Dress from Tradition to Modernity is on view at Musée des Arts Décoratifs until November 1st 2026.

Dolla has reviewed other exhibitions in Paris, available to read on our blog. Most recently, she shared her experience of Tisser, broder, sublimer: Les savoir-faire de la mode (Weave, embroider, embellish: The craftsmanship of fashion), which you can revisit here.