The Museum at FIT in May
THE LATEST NEWS
CURRENT EXHIBITION
Fashion and Technology
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
Art & Design Graduating Student Exhibition 2012
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
RetroSpective
LINKS WE LIKE
A world of fashion is on the web
MUSEUM PUBLICATION
Shoe Obsession
MUSEUM INFORMATION
THE LATEST NEWS
... What's Happening ...
**TIME is on our side** The Twitter feed of The Museum at FIT (@TheMuseumatFIT) has been named among TIME magazine’s 140 best of 2013! As the magazine writes:
After consulting with TIME editors in every field from politics and sports to technology and entertainment, we’ve compiled a list of Twitter feeds that stand out for their humor, knowledge and personality. It’s not comprehensive—there are more deserving tweeters than we can tally, and all honorees from previous years have been excluded. But like a good tweet, we’ve boiled down the issue to its essence: 140 feeds in 14 categories that you should follow right away. (Link to list)
**Fashion and Technology Closes This Week!**
Wednesday May 8th is the last day to see Fashion and Technology. You really don't want to miss this fantastic fashion history overview covering everything from the revolutionay impact of the Spinning Jenny, the zipper, and the washing machine to 3D printing, fiber optics, and computing technologies.
**Impressionism and MFIT** MFIT lends a hand-some 1867 dress to Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity at the Metropolitan Museum. It complements Claude Monet's Women in the Garden painting . Read details about the dress here.
**Summer Programs** While our spring programming has concluded, check our website in mid-May when we will be listing our summer offerings!
**Graduate Student Symposium** Saturday, May 11th, FIT grad students present a day of papers on the topic Challenge and Change: Fashion in the Industrial Age. Check out details on our website.
CURRENT EXHIBITION
Fashion and Technology
Jean Paul Gaultier, jumpsuit, multicolor nylon/spandex, 1996, France, museum purchase.
December 4, 2012 - May 8, 2013
Fashion and Technology examines how, throughout history, fashion has engaged with technological advancement and been altered by it. Time and again, fashion’s dynamic relationship with technology has both expanded its aesthetic vocabulary and streamlined its means of production.
In recent years, designers have made technology a focal point of their collections, but as early as the mid-18th century, technological advancements were shaping fashion design and fabrication. The development of aniline dyes, the sewing machine, synthetic fibers, and zippers have all sent fashion in new directions. More recently, so have wireless circuitry and the creation of fashion design software. Technologies outside of the fashion industry also contribute to change within it. These include global transportation, the internet, blogging, online retailing, and the increased speed of global communication through digital platforms and social media outlets.
The goal of this exhibition is to analyze the impact of technologies on the nature of fashion and its design, and to question whether these developments push the industry forward or ultimately set it back.
Fashion and Technology begins with a display of examples from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as a 1780s suit made with a machine-knit textile, and an 1860s dress produced using synthetic dyes. From there, it showcases prominent developments from different time periods, travelling chronologically all the way to the present day.
The exhibition features objects exclusively from The Museum at FIT’s costume collection alongside a selection of textiles and accessories that highlight the multifaceted nature of technological development. The use of video monitors and computers enhance the exhibition, offering the opportunity to showcase works by small, cutting-edge design teams, such as the Dutch label Freedom of Creation, alongside pieces by fashion icons such as Elsa Schiaparelli, André Courrèges, Issey Miyake, and Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga. Fashion and Technology is organized by Ariele Elia and Emma McClendon.
Visit the Virtual Exhibition
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
Art & Design Graduating Student Exhibition 2012
May 8 - 23, 2013
This show presents the work of more than 800 students receiving AAS and BFA degrees from the School of Art & Design and is on view throughout the main floors of the Marvin Feldman Center, the Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, the Shirley Goodman Resource Center, and the John E. Reeves Great Hall.
The exhibition features work in seventeen areas of study - Accessories Design, Advertising Design, Communication Design, Computer Animation & Interactive Media, Fabric Styling, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Jewelry Design, Menswear, Packaging Design, Photography, Textile/Surface Design, Toy Design, and Visual Presentation & Exhibition Design.
The art selected is the culmination of each student’s unique experience in the Fashion Institute of Technology’s diverse, challenging, and demanding undergraduate Art & Design programs. Featuring juried, award winning, and thesis projects, this presentation is the manifestation of several years of research, experimentation, critical thinking, and artistic proficiency.
The Graduating Student Exhibition advances the college’s applied philosophy that integrates practice in industry with theory and teaching inside the studio.
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
RetroSpective
Norman Norell, dress, red wool crepe and satin, 1962, USA, gift of Claudia Halley.
May 22 - November 16, 2013
RetroSpective explores fashion’s relationship with its own history. The speed of the fashion cycle is faster than ever, and yet, in the constant drive for newness, the past is often used as a point of reference. Many contemporary designers embrace looking back at fashion history as a fundamental part of the design process. In doing so, they create inventive and modern re-interpretations of everything from crinolines to “flapper” dresses. As cutting-edge designer Yohji Yamamoto once said, “Going to the future means you have to use your past.”
Featuring more than 100 garments, accessories, and textiles from the Museum’s permanent collection, RetroSpective begins with a selection of fashions that references historical periods prior to the eighteenth century, including a 1981 gold lamé ensemble by Zandra Rhodes and a 1999 painted silk chiffon gown by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy Couture, both of which draw inspiration from 16th-century England. The remainder of the exhibition showcases groupings of period fashions—from 18th century to grunge—and their more recent revivals.
Curated by Jennifer Farley, the exhibition also includes work by innovative designers such as Norman Norell, Yves Saint Laurent, Anna Sui, Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga, Walter Van Beirendonck, and artist Cat Chow.
Visit our website for more info and images
LINKS WE LIKE
A world of fashion is on the web
Meels??
Patricia Mears helps to explain the meels (men in heels) phenomenon with a little bit of perspective in history.
The Vulnerable Neck
Now THIS is what a fashion blog post should look like! Great piece on necks by Tove Hermanson.
Lacroix x Schiaparelli
Something to look forward to! Christian Lacroix will design 15 special looks for the Schiaparelli label.
Barbie's gone all tech
With the launch of Barbie Digital Dress, Barbie's showing she's on-trend (in both technology and fashion) in her LED touch-sensitive dress.
Liberace Extravaganza!
Well this looks like fun! A new book on Liberace's costumes to go along with the forthcoming television filmBehind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace. Directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, the film premieres on HBO on May 26th.
Idiosyncratic Fashionistas
"The Museum at FIT is a small jewel. At a time when everyone charges for everything, entrance to the Museum is free. The most avid viewer could see this exhibition in less than an hour, so you can plan a full day of appointments before and after your visit." ~ Fashion and Technology review
Pauline Bonaparte's Slippers
Two Nerdy History Girls delve into the long-lost slippers of Pauline Bonaparte Borghese, Princess of Sulmona, 1820
Fashion History, Just a Click Away
FIT Library's Special Collections partners with NY Public Library on a digital archive of fashion drawings!
Haute Couture and Swarovski (VIDEO)
Starting in 1900, Swarovski worked closely with Haute Couture designers such as Worth, Lanvin, and Chanel. In the 1950s, Jacques Fath and Cristóbal Balenciaga continued the story with extravagant uses of crystal in their collections. Swarovski presents an exhibition in Paris dedicated to historic haute couture designs. This video sums it up.
"Come in mystery challenger!" (VIDEO)
Elsa Schiaparelli on What's My Line! FANTASTIC! She's so coy.
Chanel Reel, Métiers d'Art 2012 (VIDEO)
Sublime! Chanel's 2012 Scottish Métiers d'Art showcase is edited into a melange of argyle, plaid, pearls, cable knits, and ruffs - oh my.
MUSEUM PUBLICATION
Shoe Obsession
Book Cover
This fabulously illustrated book explores western culture's fascination with extravagant and fashionable shoes. Over the past decade, shoe design has become increasingly central to fashion, with fashion companies paying ever more attention to shoes and other accessories. High-heeled shoes, in particular, have become the fashion accessory of the 21st century.
Co-written by Colleen Hill and Valerie Steele, one of the world's leading historians of fashion and an authority on fashion accessories, the book features approximately 150 pairs of the most extreme and ultra-fashionable styles of the past 12 years, including work by such prominent designers as Manolo Blahnik, Pierre Hardy, Christian Louboutin and Bruno Frisoni for Roger Vivier, as well as shoes by influential design houses such as Azzedine Alaia, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Prada. Avant-garde styles by up-and-coming designers such as Japan's Kei Kagami and Noritaka Tatehana are also highlighted.
Shoe Obsession examines recent extreme and fantastical shoe styles in relation to the history of high heels, the role of shoes as a reflection of their wearers' personality traits, and the importance of shoes in art and exhibitions. The book is lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs of spectacular contemporary shoe designs.
Available 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
