Viktor and Rolf to curate "Fashion In Colors" Exhibition

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From Fashion Week Daily

"Fashion In Colors"
Viktor & Rolf help curate major design exhibition

NEW YORK: Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Even away from their design studio, Viktor & Rolf are seeing red…and blue…and black.



The Dutch design team’s latest project pairs them with the Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI) to organize “Fashion in Colors,” a massive fashion-as-art exhibit premiering outside of Japan at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum from December 9th 2005 through March 26th, 2006.



Curated by KCI’s Akiko Fukai and Cooper-Hewitt’s Barbara Bloemink, “Fashion in Colors” explores how color meaning changes through cultures and time. For the exhibit, Viktor & Rolf chose 60 pieces of clothing, spanning from the 17th century to present-day.



Pieces are displayed by color rather than era. The show’s black section explores the juxtaposition between sophisticated, modern clothing like Chanel’s little black dress and mourning gowns from earlier times. Meanwhile, the blue section examines purple’s early connotations with royalty, while the red/yellow section shows how a color’s previous political and trade meanings make way for self-expression. There’s also a prints section, where harlequin patchwork stands side-by-side with Pucci and Vivienne Westwood.



Besides antique clothing, “Fashion in Colors” features vintage designs from Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, and Elsa Schiaparelli, plus contemporary clothes from Rei Kawakubo for Commes des Garçons and—of course—Viktor & Rolf.



The exhibit promises to be the largest fashion design show ever held at Cooper-Hewitt’s National Design Museum, but whether Tori Amos will play the opening reception remains to be seen.

Photo by Takashi Hatakeyama

It just being about color and the arrangement being juxtapositions, rather than timeline, doesn't seem so important to me. Still, it sounds intresting and I like the designers chosen to exhibit their work. I'd go if I could.

 

[mishahoi]

i just think its another way to look at it... sometimes we look at clothes in certain eras and ponder on them for being a part of history... why not ponder on the clothes for being what they are? i saw this exhibit in tokyo last year, it was not an afternoon wasted

 

[Lady-Penelope]

I think it's cruel that they make us wait six whole months to see it.