Amazones! Cavalières et icônes de mode

This richly illustrated exhibition catalog traces the fascinating history of women’s equestrian fashion in Europe, from the ancient Amazons to contemporary fashion.

For centuries, the image of the woman on horseback has embodied independence, power and a challenge to conventional ideas of femininity. The catalog examines how women’s riding dress evolved alongside changing social roles, transforming the amazone from a figure rooted in classical mythology and aristocratic equestrian culture into an enduring icon of female freedom and fashion.

Through essays and a wide range of artworks, garments, accessories and historical objects, the book follows the development of equestrian dress across the centuries. It explores medieval representations of the horsewoman, riding costume under Louis XIV, eighteenth-century tailoring in France and England, the influence of military dress, fashions of the French Revolution and Second Empire, Victorian riding habits, and the emergence of the modern female rider.

Among the subjects examined are Empress Eugénie as an icon of equestrian fashion, the adoption of elements from the male wardrobe, the evolution of riding silhouettes and accessories, and the continuing influence of the amazone on contemporary fashion. Particular attention is also given to the equestrian traditions of Provence and the Camargue, where local costume and riding culture developed their own distinctive relationship.

Edited by Valerio Zanetti and featuring contributions by international scholars of fashion and dress history, Amazones! Cavalières et icônes de mode brings together fashion history, art, social history and equestrian culture to reveal how riding dress became both a practical garment and a powerful expression of female identity, mobility and emancipation.