Occultism has long maintained a discreet but persistent relationship with French haute couture. Especially in France, many fashion personalities have been fascinated by astrology, witchcraft, or lucky talismans. History.
Mysticism at the French Court
From the Renaissance onward, the French nobility showed an interest in esotericism that already foreshadowed certain links between fashion and occultism. Catherine de Médicis, Queen of France in the 16th century, regularly consulted astrologers and seers, including the famous Nostradamus, to guide her decisions. Nicknamed by some “the Black Queen” due to her reputation as a poisoner and initiate of the occult arts, Catherine introduced an Italian fascination with astrology and alchemy to the court. While her clothing choices mainly reflected Florentine artistic influence, her taste for predictions and talismans spread among the elites. A century later, under the reign of Louis XIV, this interest took a darker turn with the Poison Affair. This sensational scandal revealed that part of the aristocracy—usually the epitome of refinement—secretly engaged in black masses and made pacts with witches. The famous Marquise de Montespan, the Sun King’s favorite and an influential fashion figure of the time, was accused of participating in satanic rituals to keep the king’s love. With the complicity of the witch La Voisin, she allegedly attended occult ceremonies involving sacrifices and demonic invocations. These terrifying revelations show that at the height of power and good taste, the temptation of the supernatural was very real. In the following decades, the esoteric enthusiasm continued in more socially acceptable forms: during the Age of Enlightenment, many French aristocrats frequented Freemasonry and its lodges with codified rituals, where ceremonial attire and symbols (decorated aprons, embroidery of stars and eyes) already created a certain esoteric aesthetic. The late 18th century also saw mysterious figures like Count Cagliostro or Franz Mesmer pass through Paris, captivating high society with their occult sciences. In the plush salons, spiritism sessions were held where ladies and gentlemen in exquisite outfits tried to contact the beyond around turning tables. Thus, long before the modern era of haute couture, occultism was part of the cultural backdrop of the French elite, in the shadow of brocades and silks.
Esotericism in Fashion and Symbolist Inspirations in the Belle Époque
At the end of the 19th century, as the first great Parisian couturiers emerged, a powerful mystical wave swept through the arts and literature. The Belle Époque was the stage for an occult revival: theosophical societies, spiritist circles, Rosicrucian orders, and other hermetic groups attracted intellectuals and socialites alike. This esoteric climate also influenced the era’s aesthetics. Fashion creators—still called couture houses in their infancy—drew inspiration from this enthusiasm to fuel their creations. From its beginnings, haute couture has embraced the charm of esotericism by reusing its symbols and imagery in prestigious pieces. In 1892, writer Joséphin Péladan organized the Salon de la Rose+Croix in Paris, exhibiting symbolist works charged with occultism, where participants wore flowing dresses resembling ritual attire. Orientalism, very fashionable at the time, also brought a wealth of mystical references: Egyptian, Persian, or Hindu motifs—associated with occult knowledge—adorned textiles and jewelry. After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Empress Eugénie launched the trend of oriental-themed parties where guests wore costumes inspired by ancient Egypt. These sumptuous events, offering opportunities to showcase extravagant outfits, blurred the line between costume, fashion, and esotericism—the fascination with pharaohs and their secrets merging with high society’s desire for exoticism. Around 1900, the sun itself became a fashion motif: the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt, passionate about occultism, posed in mage costumes or mystical allegories, inspiring stage outfits and accessories (such as sun or moon-shaped pendants). Fashion thus subtly drew from the spiritual zeitgeist: zodiac motifs, stars, and amulets became elegant ornaments, appearing on fans as well as brooches. This period also saw the rise of lucky charm jewelry among major jewelry houses: four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, or gold scarabs set with gems met the protective needs of wealthy clients. The Belle Époque thus established a first explicit bridge between the prevailing esotericism and the world of luxury clothing: appearance became a messenger of hidden symbols, and the quest for beauty allied with that for occult meaning.
Inspired and Superstitious Fashion Designers
At the beginning of the 20th century, occultism continued to captivate designers and clients but manifested in a more artistic and playful way. The Roaring Twenties saw the triumph of Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, two genius couturiers whose legendary rivalry was accompanied by a marked interest in lucky charms and astral symbolism. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, notoriously superstitious, surrounded herself with talismans and even crystal balls. Born under the sign of Leo (the fifth zodiac sign), she made this animal a true signature: lion sculptures decorate her Paris apartment, and the feline motif regularly appears in Chanel’s jewelry and buttons. Her lucky number, 5, directly inspired the name of her famous perfume Chanel N°5 launched in 1921—sample number five chosen out of superstition—and later that of the 2.55 bag (launched in February 1955). Chanel saw signs everywhere: she attributed a protective function to camellias and wore them constantly, convinced that these white flowers warded off evil spirits, in line with Buddhist tradition. Her great rival Elsa Schiaparelli, for her part, had a true passion for astrology and the occult. Bold and imaginative, Schiaparelli was one of the first to give a theme to her collections, not hesitating to draw from mystical imagery. Her Haute Couture collection for winter 1938-1939, titled Astrology, remains a landmark. The most emblematic piece is the famous Zodiac Jacket: a midnight blue velvet evening jacket embroidered with constellations, planets, and sparkling stars by the Lesage house. Twelve glyphs representing the astrological signs line the chest, while the Big Dipper constellation shines on the left shoulder, chosen by Schiaparelli as her personal lucky charm. The origin of this inspiration is touching: as a child, Elsa admired her astronomer uncle Giovanni Schiaparelli, who pointed out that the beauty marks on her cheek formed the shape of the Big Dipper. From then on, the couturier considered this constellation her protective sign, incorporated it into her logo, and reproduced it in her most intimate creations. Beyond the zodiac, Schiaparelli collaborated with surrealist artists (Salvador Dalí, Léonor Fini) and integrated into her dresses and accessories a whole dreamlike and occult imagery: embroidered eyes on fabrics, fetish hands in jewelry, alchemical symbols hidden in prints. Her perfume Shocking (1937) was presented in a bottle shaped like a woman’s bust inspired by Mae West’s silhouette but adorned with a tailor’s measuring tape necklace evoking a magical fashion ritual. In the 1920s-30s, fashion willingly engaged with mysticism: the surrealist movement, fascinated by dreams and the irrational, encouraged the use of mysterious symbols. Fashion magazines of the time did not hesitate to stage models posing as modern priestesses or Delphic Pythias, dressed in flowing veils and starry crowns. This decade thus saw French haute couture weave an imaginary blending chic and magic, under the guidance of legendary personalities with meaningful quirks.
The Golden Age of Couture Between Rites, Stars, and Talismans of Great Designers
After World War II, Paris regained its status as the fashion capital, and the great couturiers of the time—Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, and others—continued the tradition of superstitions and personal occultism. Christian Dior, in particular, was known for his extreme superstition and unwavering faith in divinatory arts. Before opening his couture house in 1946, Dior consulted a fortune teller who predicted he “would succeed thanks to women”—a prophecy that marked him for life. Indeed, this shy couturier became the magician who elevated the female silhouette with the New Look. But he did nothing without consulting his regular cartomancer, Madame Delahaye, who was backstage to choose the dates of his shows or even the right moment to change a flower bouquet’s composition. Pierre Cardin, who worked for Dior, later said: “Without her, he did nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.” Dior filled his life and work with protective symbols: he founded his house on October 8, 1946, in the 8th arrondissement, seeing a sign in the repetition of the number 8 (which he considered lucky). Intriguingly, he also liked the number 13—usually shunned—so much that he always had 13 models walk per collection, hoping it would bring him luck. Before each presentation, he slipped a sprig of lily of the valley, the ultimate lucky flower in France, into the lining of his creations. He carried a true collection of charms: a metal star he picked up in the street in 1946 (which he interpreted as destiny’s green light to launch his house), a four-leaf clover, a silver heart given by his sister, a piece of wood to touch to ward off bad luck, and more. These rituals coexisted with the modern luxury of his collections, as if to better summon fortune. Even Dior’s favorite flower, the lily of the valley, inspired the Miss Dior perfume, which he used to scent his fashion show salons, convinced that the lucky scent would contribute to success. The past proved him wrong only once: in 1957, against his fortune teller’s advice not to travel, Dior went to a spa in Italy—where he suddenly died of a heart attack at 52, leading his close ones to say he had ignored his written destiny.
Dior was not alone in looking to the stars for inspiration. His young protégé and unofficial successor, Yves Saint Laurent, also cultivated a touch of the irrational. The “prince of fashion,” though rational in his art, regularly consulted fortune tellers and read cards to reassure himself amid the stress of collections. He even attributed mystical powers to his dog Moujik: if the bulldog sat on a fabric or sketch, Yves saw it as a sign of future commercial success. Saint Laurent went as far as creating in 1976 a collection with cosmic accents called Opéra – Les Ballets russes, saturated with mysterious colors and Byzantine ornaments, which caused a sensation. Other iconic figures also displayed esoteric quirks. Christian Lacroix, the Provençal couturier of the 1980s, collected so many lucky charms that “he couldn’t even fit them all in his pockets,” he joked. Fascinated by the number three and its multiples, he arranged to present 36 or 63 looks per show, a cabalistic game followed by many of his peers. From clovers embroidered on linings to star-shaped earrings, Lacroix sprinkled his collections with lucky nods so that destiny’s goodwill would shine on his clients. Karl Lagerfeld, artistic director of Chanel for over 35 years, once confided that a prophetess had foretold his late fame: “For you, success will begin when it’s over for others,” she supposedly predicted in his youth—a prophecy he said came true, as Lagerfeld became an icon only after Chanel’s death. He was later seen peppering Chanel shows with astrological symbols (2018 Métiers d’Art collection dedicated to the zodiac) or lucky camellias, continuing Mademoiselle’s obsession. Esotericism became almost an unofficial code in the atelier: they avoided sewing a button of a certain metal on a Friday the 13th, never draped a black veil on a model the day before a show (for fear of attracting bad luck).
The Great Return of the Witch
At the dawn of the 21st century, occultism appears more than ever on runways, no longer in secret but as a true aesthetic and cultural movement. In the 1990s, the gothic trend and the attraction to the New Age gained ground in fashion. Avant-garde designers, sometimes foreign but influencing Paris, staged the occult spectacularly. This was the case of the British Alexander McQueen—trained at Givenchy in Paris—who, in 2007, drew a blood-red pentagram on the floor of his show in tribute to the Salem witches, his models moving like enchantresses on this powerful symbol. But France also has its own leading figures in this field. Paco Rabanne, the “bad boy” of Parisian couture, embodies the most extreme example of this fascination. A fashion visionary (with his futuristic metal dresses of the 1960s), Paco Rabanne was also an open esotericist. Throughout his career, he provoked as much as dazzled by revealing his mystical beliefs. In 1999, he made headlines by predicting nothing less than the apocalypse in Paris on August 11, the day of a solar eclipse, imagining the Mir space station crashing on the capital. Although the prophecy did not come true, it left a mark and drew attention to the creator’s occult universe. Paco Rabanne even published his visions in a book (1999, the Fire from the Sky), describing himself as a medium familiar with future prophecies. He also publicly revealed his beliefs in reincarnation, claiming to have lived several colorful past lives: a high priest in ancient Egypt who plotted Tutankhamun’s assassination, then a prostitute at Louis XV’s court, among others. “My earliest memories go back 78,000 years,” he seriously declared, adding that he had been visited by divine entities and even extraterrestrials during his existence. These extravagant statements, mocked by some, also helped shape the couturier’s quasi-shamanic aura, whose bold creations (mixing metal, plastic, and futurism) retrospectively took on the appearance of galactic mage attire.
Today, the younger generation of designers is reconnecting with esoteric imagery, often from a feminist or playful angle. Maria Grazia Chiuri, artistic director of Dior since 2016, has made exploring tarot and witchcraft a recurring theme in her collections. For her first presentation (Dior spring-summer 2017), she drew directly from the astrology dear to Monsieur Dior: tulle dresses embroidered with sparkling constellations and tarot card motifs mingled with suits, in a spirit both romantic and mystical. In 2021, when the pandemic prevented public shows, Chiuri designed a haute couture collection entirely dedicated to the Tarot’s arcana, unveiled in a dreamlike short film titled The Tarot Castle. This vein continues recently: the Dior spring 2024 collection revolves around the figure of the witch throughout history—those women once persecuted whom Chiuri reinterprets as symbols of emancipation. “It’s the idea of transformation,” she explains, taking as muses Joan of Arc, Medea, or the bewitched women of Arthur Miller’s Crucible. The show, with the air of a glamorous sabbath, featured cabalistic inscriptions and austere silhouettes recalling the Salem witches. Other French houses show similar enthusiasm: the Schiaparelli house, revived since 2014, fully embraces Elsa’s esoteric heritage. Under the artistic direction of Daniel Roseberry, it multiplies references to stars and myths: recent collections have seen giant unlucky eye brooches, golden skeleton trompe-l’œil (a nod to the surreal skeleton dress of 1938), and silhouettes crowned with horns or halos. Roseberry, fascinated by mystery, says he draws inspiration from “the mystical universe that inspired Schia” to offer pieces with magical winks. Moreover, esoteric accessories also invade luxury ready-to-wear: the Chanel house continues to play with the lion motif (high jewelry collection Under the Sign of the Lion) and regularly offers zodiac jewelry in tribute to Mademoiselle. Saint Laurent (now under Italian direction but still a Parisian house) has launched jewelry and sweaters bearing astrological signs, appealing to a clientele fond of horoscopes.
Thus, haute couture, the supreme art of self-staging, has always flirted with the invisible to magnify the visible. At heart, occultism and fashion share the same power of fascination—the power to re-enchant everyday life.
