Explore Farbenspiel: Fashion History and the Cultural Significance of Color at Wien Museum

This exhibition explores the cultural history of colors through approximately 350 garments from the Wien Museum's fashion collection, showcasing how clothing and power are intertwined. It examines colors as central symbols of status, emotion, and identity across four centuries.

Color is far more than surface; it affects our senses, reveals affiliation, and reflects social orders. The exhibition 'Farbenspiel' (Color Play) delves into a fascinating cultural history of colors using around 350 pieces from the Wien Museum's unique fashion collection. It illustrates the close connection between garments and power, exploring colors as key symbols of status, emotion, and identity. The exhibition focuses on the traditional heraldic colors of red, white, black, blue, green, and yellow, but also addresses often-forgotten hues, as each color carries its own history. From work clothes and ballgowns to underwear and headwear, and from wooden sandals to business suits, the display demonstrates the variability of color in fashion and society. The exhibition features worn fashion in natural and synthetic colors, presenting lived aesthetics rather than staged displays. Alongside anonymous everyday items, well-known Viennese names such as Gertrud Höchsmann, Adele List, Fred Adlmüller, Helmut Lang, Schella Kann, and Susanne Bisovsky are featured. The exhibition spans from the strictly regulated 18th century to the colorfully anarchic present, presenting a panorama that tells stories of luxury and poverty, brightness and transience, demonstrating color as a social force that shapes society and enlivens fashion.

General admission is €12.00, with a reduced price of €10.00. Entry is free for individuals under 19 and on the first Sunday of each month. Further information on discounts is available in the visitor information section. Combi-tickets are also available for this exhibition and the Franz West exhibition via an external link.