The exhibition considering fashion as modern art
Is fashion art? We think so.
[N]ew York’s Museum of Modern Art is currently staging an exhibition exploring the universality of fashion. Items: Is Fashion Modern? considers fashion as an area of design that reaches everyone, that is deeply embedded into politics, history economics and subculture.
Comprised of 111 items, each in the archetypal version that made them famous, the exhibition provides contextual information on the items we have come to recognize as uniform. From original biker jackets and white t-shirts to saris, dastars and dresses by Thierry Mugler, the show spans iconic trends and sacred garments.
The title exhibition is a reprise of the title of a show curated by Bernard Rudofsky in 1944, in which the MoMA examined dress in the context of the final moments of World War Two, when traditional attitudes – uncompromising silhouettes for women and overly formal dress for men – still prevailed.
The show also features modern interpretations of classic items, with designers invited by the MoMA to respond to and re-invent staple items with pioneering materials, approaches and design revisions. See a selection of pieces from the show below.
One-Star Perfecto Leather Motorcycle Jacket, late 1950’s. Courtesy of Schott NYC
White T-shirt. Image courtesy Shutterstock/SFIO CRACHO
Levi Strauss & Co. waist overalls, 1890. Courtesy Levi Strauss & Co. Archives (San Francisco).
Dashiki, door-knocker earrings, and Dutch wax interpreted for Items: Is Fashion Modern? by Monika Mogi. © 2017 Monika Mogi. Image courtesy The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Chinos, coppola, and Dr. Martens interpreted for Items: Is Fashion Modern? by Monika Mogi. © 2017 Monika Mogi. Image courtesy The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
White t-shirt and Y-3 interpreted for Items: Is Fashion Modern? by Kristin-Lee Moolman and IB Kamara. © 2017 Kristin-Lee Moolman & IB Kamara. Image courtesy The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Dress by Thierry Mugler, 1981. Courtesy Indianapolis Museum of Art/Lucille Stewart Endowed Art Fund. © Thierry Mugler, 2017