The Museum at FIT in October

OCTOBER EVENTS NEWSLETTER  THE LATEST NEWS PUBLIC PROGRAMSFashion Culture: Special Programs CURRENT EXHIBITIONSporting Life CURRENT EXHIBITION Daphne Guinness  UPCOMING EXHIBITION The Great Designers: Part One  LINKS WE LIKE A world of fashion is on the web MUSEUM PUBLICATIONDaphne Guinness MUSEUM INFORMATION

THE LATEST NEWS ... What's Happening ... ** Valentino Celebrated** The Museum at FIT's Couture Council presented Valentino with its Artistry of Fashion Award last month. Images of attendees to the luncheon are now up on our Flickr and Facebook pages. ** Fashion Icons and Insiders** The program for this year's Fashion Symposium has been announced!! You won't want to miss it on November 3-4, 2011, so register today! ** Daphne Guinness Opens** Our big fall exhibition began with a bang. The opening reception brought out celebrity designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Mary McFadden, Zac Posen, Christian Siriano, and Valentino. Images from the event are up on Flickr and Facebook, and a selection of key press about the dramatic exhibition is on our website.

PUBLIC PROGRAMSFashion Culture: Special Programs Fashion Culture programs and events are free unless otherwise indicated, and are organized by The Museum at FIT to provide insightful and intriguing perspectives on the culture of fashion. Reservations are required. Space is limited. To RSVP for a program, Register Online Here The exhibition curators of Sporting Life illuminate the relationship between active sportswear and fashion over the past 150 years. Sporting Life Talk and Tour Wednesday, October 12, 10:30am (Colleen Hill) Wednesday, October 26, 10:30am (Jennifer Farley) Gideon Lewin was Richard Avedon’s assistant and “right hand man” from 1964 to 1980. Avedon Behind the Scenes 1964-1980 is Lewin's new book featuring previously unpublished photographs and surprising, exotic details about the fashion and art worlds of the 1960s and 70s. Avedon Behind the Scenes 1964-1980 Lecture Wednesday, October 19, 6pm For information about programs in November, visit our website

CURRENT EXHIBITIONSporting Life Left: Stephen Sprouse t-shirt and leggings, 1985, Gift of Stephen Sprouse, Inc. / Right: Raleigh/Giordana Sport man’s bicycling ensemble, 1985, Gift of Raleigh Cycle Co. - Photograph by Eileen Costa ©MFIT. May 25 - November 5, 2011 Sporting Life explores the relationship between active sportswear and fashion from the mid-19th century through the present. Clothing for sporting activities has often influenced fashion—and vice versa. Sportswear manufacturers have been responsible for many innovations in performance apparel, even as they recognize that “fashionability” is an important factor. Indeed, much of today’s active sportswear is just as fashionable as it is functional. Visit the Special Exhibition Website

CURRENT EXHIBITION Daphne Guinness  Photo © René Hebermacher.  September 16, 2011 - January 7, 2012 Approximately 100 garments and accessories from the personal collection of Daphne Guinness are featured in this exhibition, along with clothes that she has designed herself, a selection of her vertiginous shoes, and her films, The Phenomenology of the Body and Mnemosyne. The exhibition is co-curated by Daphne Guinness and Valerie Steele. Read more here Daphne Guinness has been made possible in part through the generosity of LEVIEV Extraordinary Diamonds. Additional support was provided by M∙A∙C Cosmetics and The Couture Council.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION The Great Designers: Part One  Thierry Mugler evening gown - Metallic silver lilac lamé, lilac satin - Circa 1987, France, Museum purchase.  November 29, 2011 - May 8, 2012 The Great Designers: Part One is the first of two upcoming exhibitions that will highlight masterpieces from the Museum’s permanent collection. More than fifty garments and accessories will be featured by designers from Alaïa to Zoran, including work by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Christian Dior, and Miuccia Prada. Full portraits of all exhibition objects can be found in the more than 500 full-color photographs included in a major Museum publication available from Taschen in spring 2012 (title still to be determined).

LINKS WE LIKE A world of fashion is on the web Creation of a gown This fascinating video shows haute couture dressmakers at work at their craft for the Autumn-Winter 2011-2012 Dior collection. Inspired by McQueen The illustrator (and FIT alum) Tobie Giddio created a tribute to Alexander McQueen, a designer she feels "gives in such a way that literally pushes and pulls others further on their path." Daphne Guinness At Home  In conjunction with the The New Yorker's interview with Daphne Guinness, the magazine developed this video of Daphne at home. A little background on the Guinness family  The New Yorker revived a 1960 review of the book Daughters and Rebels: An Autobiography by Jessica Mitford. Mediating Modesty: Fashioning Faithful Bodies  This symposium on clothing and religion was held at the London College of Fashion on June 15th, but you can download individual talks from their website.  John Tiffany reflects on Eleanor Lambert, the subject of his new book  Eleanor Lambert is best known as the inventor of Fashion Week, creator of the International Best-Dressed List and founder of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. When she died in 2003 at age 100, she was one of the most influential women in the American fashion industry. But well before she became a fashion doyenne, Lambert represented artists, including Jackson Pollock, Jacob Epstein, and Isamu Noguchi.

MUSEUM PUBLICATIONDaphne Guinness Book Cover “She is one of the—if not the—most stylish women living,” says designer and film director Tom Ford, speaking of Daphne Guinness, the subject and co-author of this extraordinary book. From her platinum-and-black striped hair to her towering 10-inch heels, her to-die-for couture collection and amazing diamond jewelry, Daphne Guinness embodies the rarified, personal style of a true fashion icon. A designer, editor, model, muse, and stylist, Ms. Guinness is renowned for the way she uses fashion to transform herself. As her friend, the art historian John Richardson puts it: “She is the object of her own creativity. Her persona is her own masterpiece.” Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel, Valentino, Azzedine Alaïa, and the late Alexander McQueen are among the many great fashion designers whose spectacular garments form part of Daphne Guinness's personal collection of haute couture. But Ms. Guinness is far more than a great couture client, she is also an inspiration to designers because of her fearless personal style. In an extended interview with Valerie Steele, Daphne Guinness explains the origins and characteristics of her style. She also discusses her friendships and collaborations with other creative fashion personalities from the late Isabella Blow to the photographer Steven Klein and the jeweler Shaun Leane. Sumptuously illustrated with both high-fashion photographs and paparazzi shots, the book is a spectacular showcase for the world of Daphne Guinness.  Available Oct 17, 2011 from Yale University Press

MUSEUM INFORMATION The Museum at FIT is dedicated to advancing knowledge of fashion through exhibitions, programs and publications. The Museum is open to the public free of charge, Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 8pm, and Saturday 10 am - 5pm. Located on the Southwest corner of Seventh Avenue at 27th Street in New York City, the museum can be reached by subway: 1, C, E, F, M, N, or R, and by bus: M20 and M23. Penn Station is close by at 31st Street for the Long Island Railroad, New Jersey Transit, and Amtrak. For more information, be sure to visit our website at www.fitnyc.edu/museum or phone our information line at212-217-4558 For Press Information about any of our exhibitions or programs, please call the Office of Communications and External Relations, 212-217-4700

The exhibitions and programs of The Museum at FIT are supported in part by the generosity of the members of the Couture Council

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