Category: Curation

Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession

An Interview with AHMP alum and Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) Assistant Curator Darnell-Jamal Lisby, by Dina Pritmani, Friday April 21, 2023.

Darnell-Jamal Lisby, Cleveland Museum of Art Assistant Curator of Fashion and Curator of Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession, currently on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art, sat down with Dina Pritmani, AHMP (’24) to answer a few questions. Darnell joined the CMA in 2021 to develop projects rooted in fashion studies that range across the museum’s various curatorial departments. Before coming to the CMA, he had gained experiences and worked at other institutions such as the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where as a MuSe intern he helped research the 2018 landmark exhibition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, and The Museum at FIT. Darnell is a proud AHMP alum, who has published extensively on academic and mainstream platforms, including the Fashion and Race Database, Cultured magazine, and Teen Vogue. Starting out with an AAS in Fashion Merchandising, he received his Bachelor of Science in the Art History and Museum Professions (AHMP) program here at FIT before continuing finishing his MA in Fashion and Textiles Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice, also at SUNY FIT.

The Main Entrance of the 1916 Wing of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Spring.
By zenbikescience – Flickr: art museum, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25746245

DP: Many Congratulations on the Egyptomania exhibition! Thank you for taking the time to do the interview. I would like to know more about the background of the exhibition. What inspired you to organize an exhibition with this theme? Why is the topic so important?

D-JL: Like most people, ancient Egyptian culture intrigues me as well. After seeing a handful of recent collections by different ateliers, inspired by ancient Egyptian art, I thought it would be pretty timely to execute the project. Additionally, when I started curating the show, it was the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of Tut’s tomb, so again, I thought it would be timely to produce this exhibition.

Darnell-Jamal Lisby, Assistant Curator of Fashion, Cleveland Museum of Art, graduated from the AHMP program in 2016.
Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession is currently on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art until January 24, 2024. Installation View. Photograph Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

DP: How do you create a narrative or theme for an exhibition, and what strategies do you use to engage and educate your audience?

D-JL: Like any curator, you try to find glaring stories that connect the various objects I was thinking about compiling for my checklist. One of which was about cultural appropriation and if it applies to the use of ancient Egyptian culture as inspiration. Finding topics, like cultural appropriation, that connect with contemporary events are accessible ways to engage the audience. Furthermore, I used the broader topic of ancient Egyptian art and culture as inspiration for fashion to peak audience’s interest and then guided them to the denser topics like cultural appropriation and identity.  

Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession. Installation View. Photograph Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

DP: Could you walk us through the process of curating the exhibition, from selecting the artwork to designing the installation?

Well, it can get complicated, making it difficult to convey in a few short words. With said, I looked at different topics that I felt inspired to explore such as, cultural appropriation, the identity of ancient Egyptians, and how we and audiences over time connect with ancient Egyptian culture. From there, based on the budget I was given, I had to be very deliberate about which contemporary fashions spoke to the topic as well as ancient Egyptian art from the Cleveland Museum of Art collection that helped support the theses. Additionally, I had to lay out the history of Egyptomania and early Egyptological research that spurred the Egyptomania movement; thus, I had to pull examples across the CMA collection from decorative arts to drawings to help develop that foundation. As part of the CMA strategic plan, which strategic plans help guide the mandates of each museum employee, I also had to think about an intervention in our CMA Egyptian gallery (The second photo attached is of the intervention). Interventions are ways that you can bring outside art into permanent collection galleries, emphasizing new ways to analyze various works of art and collections. I wanted to have one of the fashions that I chose displayed in the Egyptian gallery, in which I chose a Givenchy ensemble from the fall 2016 collection the Givenchy archive graciously allowed me to use. Some of the other houses I displayed include Chanel, Balmain, and Cartier. Additionally, I wanted to highlight Egyptian fashion design voices, so I incorporated two gowns by Egyptian designer Yasmine Yeya for her house Maison Yeya and a purse by Sabry Marouf. Once I developed the checklist, I had to develop the didactics, illuminating what I found in my research that I was developing as I chose the checklist. Once the didactics went through rigorous edits, then it was time to work with the exhibition design team to create the physical show. I worked with them to create the blueprints and what inspirations I wanted to evoke. Lastly, in conjunction with the conservation team, headed by Sarah Scaturro, who was the former chief conservator of the Costume Institute, we figured out what type of dress forms we wanted to use. We also partnered with renowned costume dresser, Tae Smith to help dress the forms. After that, the rest is history… All things considered, the point is that each part of the process requires collaboration with departments from project management and exhibition design to production and conservation. To reiterate, every decision always comes back to the budget. Because I’m starting the fashion department here at the CMA, jumping to have the same budgets as somewhere as the Costume Institute at the MET is unrealistic, so I had to manage what I could with what I was given to do my best to give audiences the best experience as possible.

DP: Who inspired you to become an art curator, and how did you get started?

D-JL: After studying Andrew Bolton’s career way back in high school, it was his journey that encouraged me to become an art and fashion curator. I started just like you, in the Art History and Museum Professions program at FIT, taking in every bit of education and internship experience I could. After finishing the program, I matriculated into the MA in Fashion and Textiles Studies FIT Graduate program, and again, I absorbed as much as I could through my education and internships.

DP: What are some of the challenges you face as a curator, and how do you navigate issues such as limited budgets, conflicting stakeholder interests, and ethical considerations?

D-JL: I think the biggest challenge is just getting institutions to understand the value of fashion in the art historical realm because once that’s understood, life becomes easier from budgets, stakeholders’ interest, and ethical considerations. As mentioned, budgets can be tough, but at some point, you must go with the flow and know that God will provide a path moving forward. Philippians 4:6-7 is one of my favorite quotes to reference, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Of course, everyone’s path to peace is different, but this is my recipe. I think understanding that also understanding that in a place like Cleveland, which is not a fashion center, my work is going to be a slow burn to get a certain level of international recognition that leads to various degrees of support, from financial to cultural. And that’s okay. I think most people think they’ll be the next big thing, but staying true to yourself and going along with the process will take you where you need to be. I think, especially when I was an AHMP major, we could change the world. That’s still true, but it’s going to take a lot more politicking than one can imagine. Also, being one of the Black curators in the world involved in this work and heading my own department is a blessing certainly that I thank the CMA for, but also using my platform to expand representation in fashion and pulling up others along the way is what I live for.

DP: What are some of the most memorable exhibitions you’ve curated or participated in, and what made them stand out for you?

D-JL: When I helped curate the Willi Smith: Street Couture exhibition with Alexandra Cunningham Cameron and Julie Pastor at Cooper Hewitt, I had the best time exploring the stories of all the people Smith knew during his life and how much they loved him. It was those stories that helped develop the exhibition and accompanying assets. When I curated the Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession, I found all my research discoveries very exciting too, like understanding that the ancient Egyptians were unified by religion, not racial identity – as race is recent construct in our human history. I also loved dressing the mannequins and physically mounting the exhibition, seeing all the work we did at the CMA come to life.

DP: How do you see the role of fashion curators evolving in the future, and what do you think are some key trends and challenges facing the field?

D-JL: Fashion curators will continue to push boundaries, including searching for new topics that lean into contemporary culture to discovering new contributions by unsung figures and cultures, because fashion is such an accessible medium that touches on so many audiences’ lived experiences. I think the biggest challenge right now for fashion historians is not being afraid to tackle dense topics. As curators, our jobs are to make a complicated topic layman. Moreover, looking to diverse perspectives and celebrating a broader degree of contributions is very important and will help solidify fashion as a critical part of academia.

DP: Thank you so very much for taking the time to answer the questions. Many Congratulations on Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession!

Egyptomania: Fashion’s Conflicted Obsession will be on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art until January 24, 2024. The exhibition website has more information and extras on related events and more. Follow the work of Darnell-Jamal Lisby.

About the Author

Dina Pritmani is a junior at FIT’s AHMP program, and currently a Facilitator in The Museum at FIT. Dina is passionate about Western Asian Art, jewelry design, and learning about ways to decolonize museums. The interview was an opportunity to discuss these aspects with a Museum Professional as part of an assignment for MP 361 “Museum Professions and Administration.”

Current favorite exhibitions in New York City

The African Origin of Civilization at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Thannhauser Collection at the Guggenheim Museum.

What Shall I Wear: A Fashion Guide Ahead of its Time

By Emma Sosebee, Monday, April 10, 2023

What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion was the only book Claire McCardell wrote in her lifetime; just two years before her death, the book was originally published in 1956 by Simon and Schuster of New York. Accompanied by a variety of delightful illustrations created by Annabrita McCardell––whose specific relation to the designer is now unknown––the text is quite practical in essence. Witty and sincere, the book reads like a fashion advice column: from how to tie a scarf to suit one’s figure to sharing the importance of creating a signature look, McCardell used her professional insight to help American women in the 1950s dress with intention for any occasion. Though developing a sense of fashion may feel elusive due to the industry’s ever-changing trends, McCardell’s belief was that any woman could train her eyes to recognize good style and get her wardrobe in line; all it takes is a good teacher.

Fig. 1 Cover of the 1st edition of What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion, by Claire McCardell (1905–1958). Published in 1956 by Simon and Schuster, New York. Illustrated by Annabrita McCardell.
Fig. 2 The designer’s biography, located at the back of the book.

What is most interesting about What Shall I Wear is how much of the book remains appropriate for women’s lives (and, really, anyone interested in fashion) today, despite its 67-year-old status. As a product of an America quite different from the contemporary period, the book obviously has its moments of traditional 1950s thought––from glove etiquette to suggestions for appeasing one’s husband. Nevertheless, many of the designer’s ideas about fashion and how women should dress were relatively progressive for her time. In the first chapter, “What is Fashion,” McCardell addresses what I would argue was her most important philosophy: that clothes are for real people, and should therefore be designed in ways that are fully functional for the wearer. She adds that clothes are “made to be worn, to be lived in. Not to walk around on models with perfect figures.”

Fig 3. “What is Fashion?,” chapter 1, page 11 of Claire McCardell’s 1956 What Shall I Wear.

On a similar note, the designer also uses her introduction to remind her audience that there is no such thing as a “type” to fit into––if something in fashion does not feel right, there is no reason to force yourself into a certain style just because it is popular on the runway or the city streets. She recommended women wear the fabric or silhouette they feel best in, have fun, and play around. Fashion, though it can be intimidating to the average person, “isn’t meant to be taken too seriously.”

Instead of trying to confine women to a particular style––in which she very well could have used the book to only promote her latest collections––McCardell’s What Shall I Wear humbly served its readers by acting more as a general fashion guide. Better yet, it helped women of all ages to regain a sort of individual agency; to the American designer, understanding Fashion with a capital ‘F’ was not about conformity. A person’s chosen style should reflect their own imagination, thought, time, and energy. In other words, “The more yourself in your clothes, the better.” Evidently within her sportswear she stressed physical ease, but McCardell also hoped to impart the importance of “mental ease.” Above all, a woman should wear what makes her feel confident and comfortable. 

With chapters on what clothes to pack for different trips, suggestions for mothers worried about their teenagers’ following certain trends, and even a helpful glossary of fashion-associated terms the designer labeled as ‘McCardellisms,’ What Shall I Wear was a necessity for 1950s women who were looking to both develop their personal taste and to understand the fashion world at large. The book’s reissue in 2022 with a foreword by contemporary fashion designer Tory Burch speaks to McCardell’s continued relevance within the industry.

About the Author

Emma Sosebee (she/her/hers) is a senior in the AHMP program and one of the curators of Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation, on view at The Museum at FIT starting April 5th. Throughout her undergraduate career, Emma has developed an enthusiasm for how arts institutions care for their numerous objects. She hopes to pursue her interest in the collections management field upon graduation.

Further Reading

McCardell, Claire.  What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion. Abrams, 2022. 

Martin, Richard Harrison. American Ingenuity: Sportswear, 1930s-1970s. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.

Strassel, Annemarie. “Designing Women: Feminist Methodologies in American Fashion.” Women’s Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1/2 (2012): 35–59.

Sperling, Joy. “Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism, Einav Rabinovitch-Fox (2021).” Fashion, Style & Popular Culture 9, no. 3 (2022): 418-422.

Patterning the ‘American Look’: Textile Design in the Work of Claire McCardell

By Nico Frederick, Wednesday, April 5, 2023

This whimsical Claire McCardell yellow silk dress from 1950 features a unique pattern of various bugs in navy blue, chartreuse, and lavender alongside fishing lures and the printed words ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ in bold lettering (Figures 1-2). McCardell’s short-sleeve shirt dress with a slightly gathered skirt and black buttons trailing down the front is distinctive due to the textile used. For many reasons, the dress typifies the ‘American look’ that McCardell is recognized for.

The dress has a looser, unrestricted silhouette in comparison to the ultra-feminine ‘New Look’, a style originated by French couturier Christian Dior in 1947. The expansive use of wool, a previously rationed fabric during the war, within the original skirt of Dior’s design was emblematic of post-war European fashion that emphasized more above all else. Despite the small gathering at the waist of McCardell’s dress, the garment features an otherwise loose fit that neither requires shapewear or forces the consumer into a restricting style. Following her desire to allow women to get dressed themselves, McCardell uses center-front placed buttons as a closure as opposed to a side or back zipper that would require the aid of another person.

Whereas Parisian couturiers including Dior added surface detail to their designs through embellishment and various passementeries, McCardell’s designs often featured checkers, stripes, and unique patterning. During the post-war period, when McCardell was already considered a household name, American textile manufacturers were seeking new ways to promote their home-grown products. The magazine American Fabrics was particularly influential, encouraging USA textile brands to find their inspiration in fine art. This task was taken on by Dan Fuller, president at the time of Fuller Fabrics, who reached out to five of the most famous twentieth-century artists of the mid-century: Fernand Léger (1881–1955), Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Marc Chagall (1887–1985), Joan Miró (1893–1983), and Raoul Dufy (1877–1953). The collaboration between these artists and the American manufacturer resulted in what was referred to as the Modern Masters Series.

McCardell’s bug-patterned dress appears like a prototype of the garments she made in collaboration with Fuller Fabrics, launched in the Fall of 1955. The Museum at FIT holds one of the garments from the collaboration which features a similar ‘shirtwaist’ style reminiscent of the bug dress (P92.9.1). The museum’s example is filled with graphic designs from the artist Fernand Léger, and it feels like a piece in conversation with her earlier work in that they both make use of playful textiles whilst remaining true to a simplistic, and inherently McCardell, American silhouette.

Since McCardell was already an established designer by 1955, she added prestige to the Modern Masters collection. By then, she had already had successes with her Monastic and Popover dresses and was one of the few designers featured on the cover of Time magazine. In the November 14th, 1955 issue of LIFE magazine, Claire’s collaboration was featured in the article “New Fabrics Put Modern Art in Fashion” alongside images of models in her resort designs posing next to the artists Chagall, Picasso, and more (Figure 3). The Picasso ‘fish’ pattern textile, featured in a dress of the LIFE photo essay, similarly resembles the bugs of her 1950 design (Figure 4). It is clear that patterning was an important design feature over the years of McCardell’s work. Whether it be the floral designs that marked her playsuits or the stripes featured in her variations of Popovers, patterning served as a way for McCardell to add uniqueness to her creations while at the same time not betraying her dedication towards simplicity.

Figs. 1-2: Claire McCardell, Deep yellow silk dress printed with navy blue, chartreuse, and lavender insects, fishing lures, and words “NATURAL” and “ARTIFICIAL”, 1950, USA, The Museum at FIT Study Collection, 90.165.2, Gift of Elizabeth Fishman.
Fig. 3: “New Fabrics Put Modern Art in  Fashion” in LIFE Magazine November 14th, 1955 issue, New York, NY, with photographs by Mark Shaw.
Fig. 4: Textile, Poisson, 1955; Designed by Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973); USA; cotton; H x W: 140 x 100 cm (55 1/8 x 39 3/8 in.); Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, Gift of Fuller Fabrics Corp.; 1956-45-1.

About the Author

Nico Frederick (they/them/theirs) is a senior in the AHMP program and one of the curators of Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation, on view at The Museum at FIT starting April 5th. Following graduation, Nico will be attending the Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, and Museum Practice MA program here at FIT, hoping to one-day work with costume and dress within an archival or museum setting.

Further Reading

FIDM Museum. “Out and about with Claire McCardell.” FIDM Museum. FIDM Museum, September 25, 2009. https://fidmmuseum.org/2009/09/claire-mccardell-2.html.

Inc, Time. “New Fabrics Put Modern Art in Fashion” in LIFE. Google Books. Time Inc, 1955. https://books.google.com/books?id=zVQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA140&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Syracuse, Maleyne. “A Modern Masters Series Dress | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.” www.cooperhewitt.org. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, January 28, 2014. https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2014/01/28/a-modern-masters-series-dress/.

Syracuse, Maleyne. “Picasso’s Fish | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.” www.cooperhewitt.org. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, November 5, 2016. https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2016/11/05/picassos-fish/.

Yohannan, Kohle. “McCardell, Claire.” In The Berg Companion to Fashion, edited by Valerie Steele, 504-505. Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781474264716.0011067

McCardell: The Designer on Everyone’s Mind

A Look Into McCardell Exhibitions Past and Present

By Christina Pene, Sunday, April 2, 2023

Claire McCardell (1905–1958) is a name synonymous with American sportswear and innovation with fashion historians, though her legacy often goes unnoticed by the general public. Due to many archival holdings and past and current popular exhibitions, McCardell’s contributions to the fashion industry can be appreciated and revisited.

A bibliography highlighting McCardell’s work and additional research is available at the end of this blog post.

In 1987, the Museum at FIT hosted the first exhibition highlighting McCardell’s designs: Three Women: Kawakubo, Vionnet, McCardell, curated by Harold Koda, Laura Sinderbrand, and Richard Martin. The exhibition received renowned reviews and media attention, highlighting the work of three influential and innovative twentieth-century designers who brought attention to fashion by emphasizing women’s roles and ignoring gender stereotypes and misconceptions about fashion.

Fig. 1. Balloon romper sunsuit, Claire McCardell. 1957. The Museum at FIT, Gift of Sally Kirkland, 76.33.40. It was one of the garments on display in Three Women: Kawakubo, Vionnet, McCardell (1987).

Fashion Historian Valerie Steele, the current director of The Museum at FIT, commented on the work of Richard Martin, stating that the curator viewed fashion from an angle that other curators did not. Steele’s book, Women of Fashion: Twentieth Century Designers, published with Rizzoli in 1991, was inspired by the curatorial work in the Three Women exhibition. Martin examined dress and costume through a lens that didn’t take itself too seriously, like how McCardell approached her designs. Martin aimed to have museum-goers question their prejudices about women designers for the Three Women exhibition.

Across the East River in New York City, The Brooklyn Museum is no stranger to McCardell and her legacy. The Museum featured the designer’s work in their 2010 exhibition American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection, highlighting McCardell’s work among first-generation American designers. American High Style drew attention to McCardell’s skill in creating women’s clothing that adhered to wartime rationings while still putting their comfort at the forefront; without lacking style. The archives of The Brooklyn Museum contain numerous original correspondences with the fashion designer.

Fig. 2. “American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection,” at the Brooklyn Museum, May 07, 2010 through August 01, 2010 (Image: DIG_E2010_American_High_Style_27_PS2.jpg Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010)

As of November 2022, The Maryland Center for History and Costume in Baltimore highlights McCardell in their current exhibition, Claire / McCardell. McCardell was born in the city of Frederick, Maryland. The exhibition, curated by Robyn Levy, Tory Burch Claire McCardell Fashion Fellow, highlights the designer’s ready-to-wear innovations, including spaghetti straps, pockets on dresses, and her infamous ballet flats. The Maryland Center for History and Costume displays multiple McCardell designs alongside archival materials to give an insight into her life.

McCardell was no stranger to Museum exhibitions herself. The designer participated in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 1950s show, Adam in the Looking Glass, alongside many other contemporary fashion designers. Adam in the Looking Glass highlighted over 600 years of menswear through historical and modern garments and paper documentation. The Metropolitan Museum of Art intended to have contemporary fashion designers in the historical show to create a link between the past, present, and future. Womenswear designers were the only ones asked to participate; The MET wanted to see what fashionable innovations womenswear designers could create for menswear of the 1950s through textiles and form.

Fig. 3. Adam in the Looking Glass [press releases, installation photograph, wall text] January-July 1950. Archives of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the year 1950, Page 64.

Similarly, the Museum of Modern Art called upon the designer for their exhibition Are Clothes Modern? in 1944. The curator, Bernard Rudofsky, raised the question of whether or not women had freedom in their dress. McCardell created women’s garments that were different from the mainstream, Parisian fashion, using rectangles of fabric to make garments comfortable, affordable, and easy to wear for the exhibition, similar to the clothing she designed for the masses. The artist Georgia O’Keeffe was known to wear McCardell’s designs, and her collection was seen in the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition, Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern.

Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation is the newest exhibition highlighting the designer and will be on display in April 2023 at the Gallery FIT in the main lobby of The Museum at FIT. The exhibition highlights McCardell’s designs and legacy by adding mid-20th-century advertisements that illustrate the designer’s influence and innovations from FIT’s Special Collections and College Archives. The nine displayed garments come from The Museum’s Study Collection.

Check out the Maryland Center for History and Culture’s website to view their Claire McCardell digital collection.

For further reading, we have provided a Claire McCardell bibliography for your learning pleasure, which you can download here:

A-Claire-McCardell-and-Fashion-Designers-in-Museums-Bibliography-2Download

About the Author:

Christina Pene (she/her/hers) is a senior in the AHMP program and one of the curators of Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation. Her areas of interest include 18th-century costume and portraiture, and she is passionate about making art history accessible through digital media. Christina hopes to find a career that marries these interests post-graduation.

Further Reading:

“Adam in The Looking Glass” Press Release via The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1950.

Valerie Steele on Richard Martin, Artforum, February 2002.

Brush Kidwell, Claudia and Margaret Christman eds. Suiting Everyone. The Democratization of Fashion in America. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974.

Clark, Judith and Amy De La Haye with Jeffrey Horsley. Exhibiting Fashion: Before and After 1971. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014.

Maglio, Diane. “A brief historical overview of the first major menswear exhibition in the United States–Adam in the Looking Glass at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1950,” Critical Studies in Men’s Fashion, 4:1 (2017), pp. 79-88, doi: 10.1386/csmf.4.1.79_1

Melchior, Marie Riegels and Birgitta Svensson, eds. Fashion and Museums: Theory and Practice. London: Bloomsbury, 2014.

Palmer, Alexandra and Valerie Steele, eds. Exhibitionism. Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture 12. Special Issue (2008).

Petrov, Julia. Fashion, History, Museums: Inventing the Display of Dress. London: Bloomsbury, 2019.

Vänskä, Annamari and Hazel Clark, eds. Fashion Curating: Critical Practice in the Museum and Beyond. London et al. Bloomsbury, 2018 (2021, paperback).

Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation – The first AHMP Exhibition at Gallery FIT

“Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation” will be on display between Wednesday April 5 and Sunday April 16 at Gallery FIT at The Museum at FIT at 227 West 27th Street in New York City.

Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation highlights unique designs from The Museum at FIT Study Collection, introduces archival materials from FIT’s Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) and McCardell’s now classic book, What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When and How Much of Fashion (1956, 2022). The exhibition was conceptualized, organized and curated by our AHMP (’23) senior students Nico Frederick, Christina Pene, and Emma Sosebee during an Independent Study Course HA 499: Exhibiting Art and Fashion at FIT in the Spring of 2023.

Claire McCardell: Practicality, Liberation, Innovation is on display at Gallery FIT at The Museum at FIT at 227 West 27th Street in New York City until Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Introducing beautiful garments from our MFIT Study collection, the exhibition highlights important aspects and key themes throughout the career of Claire McCardell (1905–1958). We invite the visitor to engage with a leading and inspiring designer who was so popular that she was featured on the Time Magazine cover, won multiple awards, and one who remains influential in the fashion industry to this day. She is among the few woman designers in the world who was honored with a statue. In preparing the exhibition, we became inspired by McCardell’s innovative approaches to fashion design, her pragmatism, and her legacy.

The exhibition features reproductions of rare materials from FIT’s Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) and introduces McCardell and aspects of her continued legacy.

We are indebted to The Museum at FIT colleagues and staff at Gallery at FIT who were so very generous and kind to lent us their knowledge, wisdom and practical advice. We owe particular thanks to Dr. Valerie Steele, Director of The Museum at FIT; Colleen Hill, Curator of Costume and Accessories; Michael Goitia, Senior Exhibition Manager; Gabrielle Lauricella, Campus Exhibitions Coordinator; Tommy Synnamon, Museum Installation Assistant; Zoe Taylor, Education and Collections Assistant; Tamsen Young, Museum Digital Media and Strategic Initiatives Manager; Ken Wiesinger, and everyone else from The Museum at FIT and the Exhibitions Team. We also thank everyone from the Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) team, in particular Karen Trivette, April Callahan and Samantha Levin.

Financial and logistic support came from FIT’s Dean of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Division, and we are particularly grateful for the support from Mary Tsujimoto, Patrick Knisley, Nanja Andriananjason, and Professor Amy Werbel, acting Chair of the History of Art Department.

Take one of many bookmarks, which are installed towards the end of the exhibition and provide links to more information about McCardell.

Freedom Within: A Photo Essay by Christopher Huot

This guest photo essay was written by Harlem based photographer Christopher Huot. It was developed under and curated by Joi Berry (AHMP’23) as part of the initiative “Black Futures” sponsored by the FIT Diversity Collective in 2022. These are the words of Chris.

I am grateful for this opportunity. Coming from East Harlem, a place where opportunities feel slim, sometimes people lose sight of the goals they once had. In a setting where materialistic values are glorified, for the most part, it can feel hard to breathe when your dreams are larger than life. In this essay, most of the people photographed come from the same neighborhood as I. They understand the emotions I feel whether it be the joy of going outside on a hot summer day or mourning the loss of a close friend. I selected these photos because of the feelings they exude.

Every photograph in Freedom Within holds emotions that are dear to me. Some make me more emotional than others. Some hold darker, deeper emotions than others. All in all, they are very important to me and what I stand for. I truly believe that freedom is within us. I am a person who is easily swallowed by my emotions, and I tend to be less vulnerable than I could be. I have lost many things. Material and sentimental alike. When I decide to step back and look at my life for what it is, I realize that even though all the things I have gone through I am truly blessed. My journey has not been an easy one. Yet, from a different perspective, it is clear to me that my journey has only begun.

These photographs feature upcoming Harlem artist and musician Roseboy Siah. Siah, being the young man that he is, consistently comes to me to get commission work done. Starting his rap career at 14, his music has been getting more and more popular over the last five years. His image as an artist is important to him, and as his go-to photographer, his image is important to me as well.

Here is why the “Bell Ringer” photograph matters to me. When you come from a neighborhood where word travels fast, the positive things you do get spread quickly by the people around you. The second photograph features Siah in a place he is most happy. The studio has become his sanctuary. “Beginnings” was taken in the middle of the George Washington project houses in East Harlem, the neighborhood Siah built his support group. Siah’s music is loved by many, especially the people from here. Many of our mutual friends were raised in these housing projects. He has made it his mission to become an artist bigger than just a neighborhood star, he wants to become an international star. His community is what fuels him, and it is what he wants to give back to. This is something we both feel deeply about.

“Beyond the View” features models Kash and Josiah. The boat in the background was my main subject for this photo. I feel it tells a story of hope, while the simplicity of the actual atmosphere during the shoot was something I wish to feel every day. Just young people seeing the beauty of the ocean.

“Ootaman” features upcoming Harlem artist Dotty Boom. This is one of the first of many photos I took for my friend Dotty, whom I’ve known since middle school. This was also my first time using a point-and-shoot film camera. I wanted Dotty to be the first person I shot with the camera and this scene ended up being perfect in my eyes. From the outfit to the weather, everything was exactly how I wanted it to be. This photo opened my eyes to the beauty of film photography.

Thank you, again, for this opportunity.

Follow Chris’ work on instagram.

ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION: An Introduction

ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION opens on Monday March 21 at the FIT Gladys Marcus Library.

Written by Alex Nagel, Sunday, March 20, 2022

Beginning this week, the State University of New York’s FIT will be celebrating Greek-American Heritage Month with an exhibition curated by the Senior AHMP Seminar class of 2022.

Students in the AHMP Senior class prepared exciting essays about the legacies of Greek fashion designers, writers and illustrators at SUNY FIT in New York City. Donations and archives of individuals such as Despina Messinesi (1911–2003), George Stavropoulos (1920–1990), James Galanos (1924–2016), George Stavrinos (1948–1990), and others are at The Museum at FIT and at the Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC). A Greek translation of this introduction, kindly provided by AHMP Senior student Chrysa Tasioula, follows below.

Many of those introduced here were born in America, traveled or lived in Greece for some time. All were inspired by ancient motifs or referenced ancient monuments throughout their careers which we hope to introduce here. Essays written by the students will shine a light on some of these creatives and their legacies at FIT and in New York City. Thank you for reading our essays! Thank you for visiting the exhibition! Σας ευχαριστώ που διαβάσατε την ελληνική μετάφραση πιο κάτω!

Looking closer, one finds that there are many Greek treasures in the Museum, Archives and Library at FIT. Take, for a start, the elegant wardrobe and fashion ensembles by Despina “Depy” Messinesi (1911–2003). Working for over 52 years at Vogue, she donated gowns and accessories to SUNY’s Manhattan campus at FIT. ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION also features facsimiles of original illustrations by fashion illustrator George Stavrinos (1948–1990). Posthumously honored with a Society of Illustrators Award in 2007, FIT’s SPARC owns original illustrations, and an illustration from 1980 is on the ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION exhibition poster.

When Alexandros Rizos Rangavis (1809–1892), the first official Greek ambassador to Washington, D.C., visited New York City in 1867, he was impressed by the New Yorkers. He singled out the broad streets, Central Park and the holdings of the New York Historical Society. While he returned to Athens, many Greeks began immigrating and settling in New York. Today, the largest population of Greeks in New York City lives in Astoria in Queens. Since 1998, a copy of the so-called Piraeus Athena is standing in Athens Square Park as a gift from Athenians to New Yorkers.

We are indebted to the Gladys Marcus Library at FIT colleagues and staff who were so kind to lent us exhibition space. We owe particular thanks to Greta Earnest, James Ferguson and the Library Exhibitions Committee.

Thank you to all the staff at the Special Collections and College Archives (SPARC) team, the Library at FIT, our colleagues at The Museum at FIT, and the Office of the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at FIT and the FIT Diversity Collective, in particular Karen Trivette, April Callahan, Nanja Andriananjason, Eileen Flannigan, Gabriella Bucciarelli, Helen Lane, Sonia Dingilian and Melissa Marra-Alvarez.

Support came from Justine De Young, History of Art, Mary Tsujimoto and Patrick Knisley, FIT’s Dean of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Division. We also are grateful for the help with the translations, kindly provided by AHMP student Chrysa Tasioula.

The AHMP Senior Exhibitions class curators include Liana Arkay, Matthew Balcom, Sophie Benzakein, Nadine Hauser, Ivette Hodnovich, John Paul Jang, Zoe Klipstein, Frida Loyola, Richard Montañez, Vanessa Munoz, Tessa Norton, Stephanie O’Donnell, Natalia Orestis, Katherine Prior and Abigail Rodriguez.

ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION is on display at the FIT Gladys Marcus Library, on 227 West 27th Street in New York City in Spring and Summer 2022.

Further Reading

The First Greek Ambassador to the American Federation 1867–1868. From the Memoirs of Alexandros Rizos Rangavis. Translated by Christine Gabrielides. Nostos Books, 2019.

Hamilakis, Yannis. 2007. The Nation and its Ruins. Antiquity, Archaeology, and National Imagination in Greece. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Moskos, Charles. 1990. Greek Americans: Struggle and Success. New Brunswick: Transaction.

Rozeas, Christina. 2012. Greeks in Queens. Charleston: Arcadia.

Saridakis, Nikos. 2019. Greek Fashion – 100 Inspirational and Creative Years. Exhibition Catalog. Nafplion: Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation [in Greek].

Xenides, John. 1922. The Greeks in America. New York: Doran & Co.

The Modern Greek Studies Association holds events and publishes regularly about Greeks in America.

Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 1983ff.

The Journal of Modern Hellenism, 1984ff.

The Greek Cultural Center of New York is operating since the 1970s in Astoria, Queens.

The translation below was kindly provided by Chrysa Tasioula, Art History and Museum Professions’ 2022.

Τιμώντας τον μήνα Ελληνοαμερικανικής Κληρονομιάς, το ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION εγκαινιάζεται τη Δευτέρα 21 Μαρτίου στη Βιβλιοθήκη Gladys Marcus, Shirley Goodman Resources Center, FIT.

Απο αυτή την εβδομάδα, το FIT θα γιορτάζει τον Μήνα της Ελληνοαμερικανικής Κληρονομιάς με μια έκθεση που επιμελείται η τάξη Senior AHMP Seminar του 2022. Οι μαθητές ενασχολούνται με την κληρονομιά Ελλήνων σχεδιαστών μόδας, συγγραφέων και εικονογράφων όπως ο Γιώργος Σταυρόπουλος (1920–1990), η Δέσποινα Μεσσήνη (1911–2003), Τζέιμς Γαλανός (1924–2016), Γιώργος Σταυρινός (1948–1990) μεταξύ άλλων, στο Μουσείο του FIT και στις Ειδικές Συλλογές και Αρχεία Κολλεγίων (SPARC) που στεγάζονται στη Βιβλιοθήκη Gladys Marcus. Πολλοί από αυτούς που παρουσιάστηκαν εδώ γεννήθηκαν στην Αμερική, ταξίδεψαν ή έζησαν για λίγο στην Ελλάδα. Ωστόσο, όλοι τους εμπνεύστηκαν από αρχαία μοτίβα ή ανακάλεσαν αρχαία μνημεία κατά τη διάρκεια της καριέρας τους, τα οποία ελπίζουμε να παρουσιάσουμε εδώ. Κάθε Δευτέρα, τρεις νέες εκθέσεις τις οποίες γράφουν οι μαθητές θα ρίχνουν φως σε μερικούς από αυτούς τους καλλιτέχνες και την παρακαταθήκη τους στο FIT και στη Νέα Υόρκη. Σας ευχαριστούμε που διαβάζετε τις εκθέσεις μας! Σας ευχαριστούμε που επισκεφθήκατε την έκθεση!

Αν κοιτάξει κανείς πιο προσεκτικά, διαπιστώνει ότι υπάρχουν πολλοί ελληνικοί θησαυροί στο Μουσείο, τα Αρχεία και τη Βιβλιοθήκη του FIT. Πάρτε, για αρχή, τα κληροδοτήματα της Δέσποινας «Ντέπυ» Μεσσηνή (1911–2003), η οποία εργάστηκε για 52 χρόνια στη Vogue και δώρισε μέρη της κομψής γκαρνταρόμπας και των συνόλων μόδας της στις γκαλερί FIT. Στο ΜΟΔΑ IS FASHION συμμετέχει επίσης ο Γιώργος Σταυρινός (1948–1990) ο οποίος εργάστηκε ως εικονογράφος σε μεγάλες εκδόσεις μόδας και το 2007 τιμήθηκε με το Society of Illustrators Award. Σήμερα, η SPARC της FIT διαθέτει μια αξιόλογη συλλογή πρωτότυπων εικονογραφήσεων και μια εικονογράφηση από το 1980 βρίσκεται στο εξώφυλλο της έκθεσης. Ωστόσο, ακόμη, εκτός από μια κολακευτική και σημαντική βιογραφία που συντάχθηκε το 2010, ελάχιστα δημοσιεύονται γύρω από τις ιστορίες της τέχνης και στο πλαίσιο της αξιοσημείωτης συλλογής εικονογραφήσεων.

Όταν ο Αλέξανδρος Ρίζος Ρανγκαβής (1809–1892), ο πρώτος επίσημος Έλληνας πρεσβευτής στην Washington, D.C., επισκέφθηκε τη Νέα Υόρκη το 1867, εντυπωσιάστηκε από τους Νεορκέζους. Ξεχώρισε τους μεγάλους δρόμους, το Σέντραλ Παρκ και τις εταιρείες της Ιστορικής Εταιρείας της Νέας Υόρκης. Ενώ επέστρεψε στην Αθήνα, πολλοί Έλληνες άρχισαν να μεταναστεύουν και να εγκαθίστανται στη Νέα Υόρκη. Στη μονογραφία του, Οι Έλληνες στην Αμερική (1922), ο John Xenides περιέγραψε ήδη 80 ή 90 Ελληνικές Εταιρείες στη Νέα Υόρκη στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 1920.

Σήμερα, ο μεγαλύτερος πληθυσμός Ελλήνων στη Νέα Υόρκη ζει στην Astoria, Queens. Από το 1998, ένα αντίτυπο της λεγόμενης Πειραιώς Αθηνάς στέκεται στο Athens Square Park ως δώρο των Αθηναίων στους Νεορκέζους. Στις γκαλερί του The Met, οι μαθητές του FIT, διάβασαν Κωνσταντίνο Καβάφη μπροστά από μια αρχαία ελληνική ταφόπλακα.