The next spectacular exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum has opened, presenting several women couturiers who had hitherto been shrouded in mystery.
A garment fashioned by the groundbreaking African-American designer Ann Lowe, who was widely disregarded in her day despite creating Jackie Kennedy's wedding gown in 1953, is one of the main exhibits of the "Women Dressing Women" show.
The muslin dress has elaborate taffeta and silk flowers, adding to its beautiful beauty. A garment named "La Garonne," created by Madam Charlotte, was introduced by the now-forgotten French fashion business Premet thirty years before Jackie O.'s appearance in Lowe's masterwork.
The show explores the art of womenswear from the 20th century to the present via the 80 items created by 70 makers. It also highlights the environmental awareness of designers like Hillary Taymour and Gabriela Hearst.
"The biggest overarching takeaway is really to celebrate and demonstrate the incredible range and diversity of women designers who have been present throughout history and who have made so many meaningful contributions to fashion," Huber said.
For women, the narrative starts in the solitary sewing workshops where they were often assigned. However, several French female designers, including Madeleine Vionnet, Jeanne Lanvin, and Gabrielle Chanel, were well-known in the early 20th century. Vivienne Westwood, Nina Ricci, and Elsa Schiaparelli were among the designers whose creations were hand-picked by the Costume Institute from its 33,000-piece collection, which spans seven decades of fashion.
The show, which was postponed due to the pandemic and was initially meant to commemorate a century of women's suffrage in the US in 2020, instead concludes with a more political focus, examining omissions and absences in museum collections. /BGNES
