The Museum at FIT in February

THE LATEST NEWS ... What's Happening ...  ** Spring programs have sprung** MFIT's Fashion Culture programming is now on the calendar! See below for events in February but also be sure to check our website for the full spring line-up.  **Reel Fashion** February's programming includes a collaborative fashion film series presented by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and The Museum at FIT (MFIT), in collaboration with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and with the support of the European television network ARTE. Visit our website, or see below, for more details. **Online Collections** The Museum at FIT is re-vamping its Online Collections. Later this spring, you'll be able to explore many new objects, browse hundreds of new photos, and enjoy a brand new look! We'll keep you posted in this newsletter when an exact launch date is known.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS Fashion 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 Reel Fashion: four documentary films on fashion. Director Loïc Prigent will personally introduce his three films (Feb 21, 22, & 23) and will participate in Q&A sessions following the screenings. To register for films at the FIAF venue, please visit their website at fiaf.org (fees may apply).  Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton (2007) ~ Director: Loïc Prigent Tuesday, February 21, 6pm, MFIT The Day Before: Fendi by Karl Lagerfeld (2009) ~ Director: Loïc Prigent Wednesday, February 22, 7pm, FIAF The Day Before: Proenza Schouler (2009) ~ Director: Loïc Prigent Thursday, February 23, 6pm, MFIT Et ELLE crea la femme (And ELLE Created Woman) (2006) ~ Director: David Teboul Wednesday, February 27, 7pm, FIAF Talk and Tour : Impact: 50 Years of the CFDA  Deputy director Patricia Mears will guide you through nearly 100 garments and accessories by CFDA members that were chosen for the extraordinary impact they have had on the development of American fashion during the last 50 years. Wednesday, February 29, 10:30am

CURRENT EXHIBITION Death to Pie Charts: Media Design Club at FIT Margaux Le Pierres, Student Animation Project (2011), Digital Junky for Motion Infograph Project  January 28 - February 11, 2012 Death to Pie Charts examines the recent trends in the fields of information graphics, highlighting a selection of the best information graphics done by the members of the Media Design Club at FIT. This exhibition showcases information graphics in a variety of formats including animation, interactive, print, and physical constructions. Watch Digital Junky by Margaux Le Pierres, one of the many digital projects that will be shown in Death to Pie Charts . Digital Junky won FIT professor C. J. Yeh's Time-based Design Scholarship Competition 2011.

CURRENT EXHIBITION Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT, Part One  Thierry Mugler ensemble - Metallic silver lilac lamé, lilac satin - Circa 1987, France, Museum purchase.  November 29, 2011 - May 8, 2012 Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT, Part One is the first of two exhibitions that highlight modern and contemporary pieces from the Museum’s permanent collection. More than fifty garments and accessories are featured by designers from Alaïa to Zoran, including work by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Christian Dior, and Miuccia Prada. Full portraits of all exhibition objects from the two exhibitions will be included in a companion publication by TASCHEN, forthcoming fall 2012.  Read more here.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONIMPACT: 50 Years of the CFDA Thom Browne ensemble - Pheasant feather / wool suit with grey felted fur bowler hat - Autumn/Winter 2008-2009, USA - lent by Thom Browne . February 10 - April 17, 2012 Conceived by CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg and curated by Patricia Mears, deputy director of The Museum at FIT, IMPACT: 50 Years of the CFDA will be an ode to the illustrious designs of the CFDA’s many members and will mark the organization’s fiftieth anniversary in 2012. The exhibition will include approximately 100 objects, both garments and accessories, by the CFDA’s most impactful creators of the last 50 years. Also included will be visual images and acknowledgement of the nearly 600 designers who have been members over the past five decades. Each living designer selected to participate in the exhibition is choosing a single object or ensemble that best represents his or her impact on the fashion world. A visually rich publication also entitled Impact, produced by the CFDA and published by Harry N. Abrams, is the companion book to the exhibition. Read more here

UPCOMING EXHIBITION Youthquake! The 1960s Fashion Revolution Bob Dylan by Harry Gordon, paper, 1968, England, gift of Estelle Ellis.  March 6 - April 7, 2012 Youthquake! The 1960s Fashion Revolution will explore the dramatic impact of youth culture on fashion during the 1960s. More than thirty garments, accessories, videos, and other related media will be featured, including fashions by Yves Saint Laurent, André Courrèges, and Giorgio di Sant’Angelo. The epicenter of youth-generated style was London, where young shoppers flocked to boutiques opened by energetic, equally young designers. By comparing designs ranging from cutting-edge boutique and mass-market labels to high fashion ready-to-wear and couture, the exhibition will attest to the ascendance of youth as the driving force in fashion. This exhibition has been organized and curated by FIT graduate students of the Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practiceprogram. Read more here

LINKS WE LIKEA world of fashion is on the web It's all A-Z The Museum at FIT isn't the only place you'll find things organized A-Z. LuxuryWord put together an A-Z of 2011's fashion keywords. Parenting at MFIT... A mom uses the Daphne Guinness exhibition as a teaching tool. Fashion is fashionableThe U.K.'s Daily Mail discusses the growing interest in fashion exhibitions. They list a few upcoming exhibitions, but for a complete list of fashionable exhibits around the globe this year, check out the one MFIT has compiled. Golden Spider Silk Cape This is an absolutely remarkable spider silk cape. Watch the video. The last known spider silk textile was created for the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, but no examples remain. The spiders were collected each morning and harnessed to allow handlers to extract their silk. At the end of the day, the spiders are returned to the wild. On view at the V&A until June 5. A fashion history momentKatherine Hamnett and Margaret Thatcher face off over a t-shirt in 1984. Miss Representation - a trailerWe hope this kind of film sparks conversation and thought. WWD's fashion roundup of 2011 Women's Wear Daily names the Museum at FIT's Daphne Guinness exhibition to be one of their favorite fashion moments of 2011. What does Ryan Gosling have to do with museums?This amusing Tumblr blog for museum aficianados explains. Interview with Arianne Phillips, costume designer for W.E.In this interview, the designer recounts how Dior and Vionnet dresses were recreated for the film.

MUSEUM PUBLICATIONIMPACT - 50 Years of the CFDA Book Cover IMPACT is the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, exploring the influence of the careers of America’s most influential designers over the last five decades. Anchored by Patricia Mears’s illuminating essay on the history of the CFDA, this book incorporates over 300 personal Impact statements from the most important names in American fashion, including Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, Ralph Lauren, Proenza Schouler, and Donna Karan. Illustrated with many never-before-seen images, this is the ultimate American fashion who’s who and a celebration of this important fashion organiza­tion. Accompanied by elegant images of these career-changing moments, this book is the definitive word on the voice of American fashion. About the authors Cathy Horyn is an American fashion journalist who works as a critic for the New York Times, where she also keeps a highly noted and provocative blog called On The Runway. Diane von Furstenberg is an internationally renowned designer and current president of the CFDA. Patricia Mears is deputy director at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology and is the curator of the 2012 IMPACTexhibit that accompanies the publication of the book. Available from Abrams

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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