“Costume Jewelry Exhibition” to be held in Sapporo in April 2025! Free-spirited ideas and original designs that have captivated celebrities, and the sparkle of artisanal handiwork

The exhibition "Costume Jewelry: Innovators of Beauty – Chanel, Dior, Schiaparelli: From the Chisako Kotaki Collection" will be held at the Sapporo Art Museum from Saturday, April 19th to Sunday, June 22nd, 2025.

Costume jewelry is made without using gemstones or precious metals, but instead from a variety of materials such as glass, shells, and resin. Freed from preconceived ideas about jewelry, it was pioneered by Paul Poiret in the early 20th century and was subsequently adopted by French haute couture designers such as Chanel, Dior, and Schiaparelli, who created a succession of unique pieces using free ideas and a variety of materials.

Costume jewelry first spread from Europe to the United States after the war. Coupled with the social climate of the time, when women were increasingly entering the workforce, it gained immense support as an item that expressed their independence and individuality. The time had come for working women to choose their own accessories.

This exhibition will display approximately 450 pieces from the collection of Chisako Kotaki, a world-renowned costume jewelry collector, and will introduce the historical development and appeal of costume jewelry. Please enjoy the free and original world of stylized beauty created by artists who lived through a turbulent era in fashion.

Highlights

A large-scale exhibition specializing in costume jewelry

Costume jewelry researcher and collector Chisako Kotaki will exhibit the costume jewelry she has collected over the years. The collection, which numbered about 450 pieces, is rare even by global standards. In recent years, fashion exhibitions have been held frequently in Japan, but most of them focus on dresses. It is very rare to have an exhibition that focuses on costume jewelry in a comprehensive manner, and it is a valuable opportunity to gather together costume jewelry that is one of a kind or was produced in very small numbers. A large number of impressive jewelry pieces will be exhibited, from well-known French haute couture fashion designers such as Chanel, Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent, to Elsa Schiaparelli, who was friends with surrealists such as Salvador Dali and Man Ray, and jewelry designers such as Coppola et Toppo and Leanne Vautrin, who will be introduced in Japan for the first time.

Tracing the historical development of costume jewelry from Paris haute couture to Europe and America

The history of costume jewelry began in the Paris fashion world at the beginning of the 20th century. Following the pioneering efforts of Paul Poiret, known for freeing women from corsets, costume jewelry was adopted by Chanel, Dior, Schiaparelli and others, and was accepted as jewelry that complemented haute couture dresses.

Couture jewelry by grand maisons, which flourished between the 1920s and 1950s, was produced by exceptional artisans and manufacturers known as parliers.

You can also see the unique stylistic beauty of artists such as Ligne Vautrin's poetic worldview and Sissi (Sissi Zsoltowska)'s rare sense of color.

Meanwhile, Chanel and Schiaparelli exported costume jewelry, bags, hats, etc. to American department stores, and costume jewelry gradually spread to the United States. Then, from 1935 to 1950, America developed its own unique costume jewelry. Providence, Rhode Island was crowded with countless manufacturers, and mechanization made it possible to mass-produce, making low-cost, stable-quality products available to the general public. Among them, Miriam Haskell's works, which retained a European flavor and a vivid sense of color while incorporating a variety of materials such as cork, ceramics, nuts, shells, glass, and resin, were loved by Hollywood actresses and left their mark on American fashion history. American costume jewelry grew and took flight with its free and unique expressions that were not bound by norms, in contrast to the elegant costume jewelry of Europe, which followed a long history of jewelry culture.

Coordination of costumes and costume jewelry

Related Events

Commemorative Lecture: "Costume Jewelry: Innovators of Beauty"

Prior to the opening, there will be a lecture by the exhibition's curator, Chisako Kotaki.

After the lecture, you can enjoy an early look at the exhibition until 5pm.

Workshop by Chisako Kotaki: Venetian bead necklace

Original necklaces made from Venetian glass beads will be produced by the select shop "chisa," run by Chisako Kotaki, the curator of this exhibition.

You can enjoy creating designs by arranging the beads in any way you like.

Staff will be there to support you, so even first-time participants can feel at ease.

You can choose from three types of production kits.

Other related events will also be held. Please check the website for details.

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Advance tickets are on sale at each ticket agency!

For more information on tickets, please check the official exhibition website.

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