Fashion Exhibitions to See Besides the Obvious

A little exhibit at the Met has just opened (something about punk?). Here are other fashion exhibits worth a look…

Front Row: Chinese American Designers
Museum of Chinese in America, New York
April 26 – September 29, 2013
— Mary Ping curates this examination at Chinese-American designers who’ve found success in New York since the 80s, including Anna Sui, Jason Wu, Vera Wang, and Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim.

Artist/Rebel/Dandy: Men of Fashion
RISD Museum, Providence
April 28 – August 18, 2013
— The museum at the Rhode Island School of Design explores the dandy identity over two centuries. The shoe begins, naturally, with Beau Brummell and continues, curiously, through modern dandies Rick Owens and Patti Smith.

Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
July 10, 2013 – February 16, 2014
— Following its blockbuster David Bowie showcase (which remains on view through July 28), the V&A assembles 85 outfits for a major show on the outrageous club looks of the 1980s in London, an imaginative era that still informs contemporary collections.

Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion
Seattle Art Museum
June 27 – September 8, 2013
— The Seattle Art Museum will play host to a traveling exhibit featuring more than 100 outfits by game-changing Japanese designers, including Rei Kawakubo, Junya Watanabe, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Jun Takahashi, and Kenzo Takada, as well as younger names.

A Queer History of Fashion: From the Closet to the Catwalk
Museum at FIT, New York
September 13, 2013 – January 4, 2014
— This exhibition follows the extent to which gay men and women have made significant contributions to fashion for more than a century, touching on androgyny, dandyism, subculture, street styles, and drag.

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk
Brooklyn Museum, New York
October 25, 2013 – February 23, 2014
— After stops in Montreal, Dallas, San Francisco, Madrid, and Rotterdam, this retrospective chronicles the startling breadth of Jean Paul Gaultier’s contributions to both pop culture and couture.

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