This mix is, in short, what makes Black: Masters of Black in Fashion and Costume one of its strongest shows. “We didn’t want to paint a complete picture of the colour black in the history of fashion and costume but rather wanted to work around a few key moments and themes,” explains co-curator Wim Mertens.

In order to portray the link between nobility and black, for example, a portrait of Dutch painter Cornelis van der Voort hangs next to mannequins dressed by contemporary designers Viktor&Rolf and Bernhard Wilhelm. Their black silhouettes are avant-garde interpretations of the 17th-century fashion worn in earnest in the portrait.

Working together alongside MoMu’s staff were Paul Huvenne of the Antwerp’s Museum of Fine Arts, Emmanuelle Dirix of Winchester College in London and the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and Natalie Ortega, who teaches textile conservation and restoration at the city’s Artesis Hogeschool. “It was Ortega who discovered that the dyeing of textiles black was an important industry in Antwerp during the 16th and 17th century,” says Mertens. “That was our historic link with the colour and became our starting point.

The importance of black for many Belgian designers gave MoMu plenty of connections to the present: you’ll find designs by Ann Demeulemeester, Raf Simons and Olivier Theyskens in Black.

A notice on the wall explains the necessity to work with dimmed lights due to the fragile quality of the fabrics, but it also makes for a suitably dark environment. What is strikingly obvious right from the start is that black isn’t as simple as we think – it comes in a multitude of shades.

The first silhouette – a magnificent dress by Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy Couture – embodies this discovery: there are dozens of nuances discernable in the hue. The tulle, the beads, the felt: everything is black, but no two materials have the same shade. It is a testimony to the versatile nature of black.

Wandering further onto the zigzag path of the exhibition, this feature becomes more and more apparent. One corner is devoted to men’s fashion in black: once a symbol of a new era, in which men turned their backs on frivolous appearances in favour of a discreet, modest and classy look. Another corner demonstrates the appearance of black in children’s clothing – a handy colour for school aprons to disguise ink stains or for Catholic uniforms so as not to deter attention from devoutness.

In the 1980s, black made a surprising comeback in the otherwise flashy, glittery world of fashion, thanks to Japanese designers such as Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe. Suddenly, black is everything but devout: rebellious and gothic, yet always chic. Of course the necessary attention is also devoted to black as the colour of mourning, with a display of mourning jewellery and accessories that questions the true meaning of black. Is it for mourning, or for fashion?

Don’t forget good versus evil with its good girl/ bad girl appeal: a film noir installation with creamy white-skinned femme fatales emphasises the chiaroscuro effect, which inspired Antwerp-based Helena Lumelsky to design her collection revolving around black. She also created a miniature lightbox theatre, complete with flashlight, transparent scenes and movable figures to depict 20th-century fashion in black and white.

By juxtaposing black with white, the exhibition further investigates the two extremes of colour and the geometrical characteristics of the colours when combined. Gareth Pugh’s summer collection for 2009 functions as the perfect illustration, with its white fronts and black backsides.

But perhaps the most interesting part of Black is the last chapter, which studies the interplay between colour and light. Visitors are reminded of their first impression as they entered the exhibition: black is never a given. It changes all the time.

“What I learned from this exhibition is that black is a many-layered and intriguing colour that has a different meaning at different moments in time and space,” says Mertens. “More than any other colour, black is permeated with different meanings and contexts, and that makes it the strongest colour of all.”

Black: Masters of Black in
Fashion and Costume
Until 8 August
MoMu, 28 Nationalestraat
Antwerp
www.momu.be