Well, the thing about doing a series is that you have to end it. Instead of blue balls, I chose earnest conversation about what the exhibition looks like from the little sneak peeks and press on it.
(Un)Fortunately for you, here at the TGCU, we will be taking a break for a week just to exist because who doesn’t love that. We will be back in full colour the Following week. I am very excited to touch grass.
Anyway, let’s talk and ramble on.
The exhibit will be divided into 4 sections:
Anonymity-Eponymous
A look at the role of the anonymous dressmaker as a type of collective ancestor leading to the present-day eponymous designer.
Visibility
This will showcase a pantheon of women designers who worked in Paris, Through highlighting notions of visibility, the rise of the couturier, and the collective nature of design, this section will examine the ways in which fashion served as a vehicle to provide early forms of financial, social, and creative autonomy for women.
Agency
This will expand the lineage of female designers across time and geography, using the premise of agency to reveal how generational shifts led to new opportunities for women. Garments by contemporary designers working from the 1960s to the present will emphasize the ways in which fashion has served as a site of political and bodily expression, engaging with notions of identity and choice.
Omission
This is the presentation of objects by designers whose work has only recently begun to receive widespread credit and recognition.
LETS TALK
I decided to look at the list of designers and really just point out who I didn’t get and who I said made it but didn’t.
Who didn’t make the cut?
Dilara Findikoglu
Stella McCartney
Kiki Kianga Peterson
Carolina Herrera
Donatella Versace
Elena Valez
Vera Wang
Okay, this is a big gag. I know that this was not something that was done quickly. I think it is hard to include some of the people on this list. I am interested to see the rationale in the book that is being released alongside the exhibition.
People I should’ve obviously mentioned but my dumbass didn’t
Gabriella Hearst
Betsey Johnson
Donna Karin
Marine Serre
Norma Kamali
Nina Ricci
Hillary Taymour (Collina Strada)
Pleasant Surprises
Anifa Mvuemba (Hanifa)
Grace Wales Bonner
Melitta Baumeister
Autumn Randolph and Pia Davis (No Sesso)
I am obviously very excited to see and get an education but I should’ve known that MGC’s counterfeit activism would’ve made it here. How unfortunate.
I think that the list obviously leans western but so did mine. It’s just how the cookie crumbles. We don’t have our own costume institutes and archives in the rest of the globe. I think it would’ve been very interesting to look at stalwarts in the global sphere as a pathway and I mean, including African representation. Someone like Tia Adeola or Sindiso Khumalo would’ve been lovely choices. Even Amanda Laird Cherry would’ve been cool I guess.
I also think that African costume is complicated to include as the cultural nuance is hard to highlight in this context. From the looks of things, Thebe is the only African designer in the MET costume collection. It’s important for us not to rely on western imagery and institutions to preserve African stories and creativity but question what that means for us.
I am very excited for this exhibit because it looks to create a line in the sand. At a time when men have dominated the space, a light is shone for women in fashion in the past and in the present. It also presented an opportunity for a lot of emerging talents to have their work purchased and added to the MET’s costume collection, which is major. The names of people like Hillary Taymour for Collina Strada, Anifa Mveumba for Hanifa, Ester Manas, Jamie Okuma, Simone Rocha, Marine Serre, and Isabel Toledo all get their clothing etched in history as the new class.
Have a great day and if the glove don’t fit; acquit
Loves it,