If your summer travels already are taking you to one of the world’s fashion capitals, then try hitting some of our favorite museum fashion exhibits. These are sure to intrigue and educate the fashion lover inside all of us.
Happy fashion globetrotting from purplemaroon!
[photo credit: Les Art Décoratifs, Paris / Photo: Jean Tholance]
Paris, France
April 7 – August 14, 2016
FASHION FORWARD, 3 SIÈCLES DE MODE (1715-2016)
For those lovers of fashion that enjoy a trip through time, this exhibit showcases three Centuries (1715-2016) of fashion history. This “Fashion Forward exhibit will bring together 300 items of men’s, women’s and children’s fashion from the 18th century to today. The items are selected from the museum’s collections to provide a novel chronological overview.” #FashionForward_AD
[photo credit: Wedding ensemble (back view), autumn/winter 2014–15 haute couture. Courtesy of CHANEL Patrimoine Collection. Photograph Nicholas Alan Cope]
New York
May 5, 2016 - August 16, 2016
Manus x Machina: Fashion in the Age of Technology
This exhibition from The Costume Institute, through more than 1000 ensembles dating from 1880 to 2015, explores the impact of new technology on fashion. It showcases "how designers are reconciling the handmade (manus) and the machine-made (machina) in haute couture and avant-garde ready-to-wear" fashion. #ManusxMachina
[photo credit: Exhibition installation photo, Organic, recycled, off the grid: Fashion ethics of Christina Kim,” University of Bologna, Italy, 2008. Photo: Mark Schooley]
New York
September 23, 2016 – April 16, 2017
Scraps: Fashion, Textiles and Creative Reuse
Fashion sustainability: a topic near and dear to purplemaroon’s heart. This exhibit offers creative, alternate approaches to textile waste. It “will explore key facets of sustainability, such as the efficient use of materials and resources, the preservation of local craft traditions and the integration of new technologies in the recycling process.”
[photo credits: Salvatore Ferragamo, Tirassegno, 1958, suede pump with kid appliqués with a target-shooting motif; Kenneth Noland, Untitled, 1958, acrylic on canvas (Courtesy Museo Salvatore Ferragamo; Galleria Fumagalli, Milan)]
Florence, Italy
Begins in May and ending time varies per location
This exhibit explores Art Versus Fashion in 5 different Museums simultaneously.
It “aims to be a wide-ranging reflection on art and fashion across various cultural institutions, by drawing on different museum collections to analyze how art and fashion overlap, contaminate and collaborate with each other.”
[photo credit: Picture credits © Walter van Beirendonck, Fall/Winter 2010/2011. Hat: Stephen Jones © Ronald Stoops
London, England
Oct 13, 2016 – Feb 5, 2017
As fashion can often cross boundaries, this exhibit at the Barbican Art Gallery in London seeks to answer the question: “What is it that makes something vulgar?” Discover fashion from the renaissance to the present, which just might answer this question for you.
[photo credit: Dresses from the garden section of the de Young exhibit. Photo: Drew Alter Photography]
If your summer plans don't have you traveling far (or for those fortunate enough to come to our windy city), be sure to see the current exhibit at the de Young Museum right here in San Francisco.
San Fransico
March 12 - May 30, 2016
Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective
This exhibit is a world premier retrospective look at Oscar de la Renta’s career and works. Including more than 130 garments, the exhibit is “organized into several thematic sections: early work; Spanish, Eastern, Russian and garden influences; daywear and eveningwear; and ball gowns and red carpet ensembles.” @deyoungmuseum #OscardelaRenta