Black Style Today, Our Style Tomorrow

Last weekend the Museum of the City of New York opened a new exhibition titled "Black Style Now." An encyclopedic view of black fashion in NYC from the beginning of the 1900s to today, the exhibition focuses most heavily on the role of hip-hop in the last 15 years. I had visited the exhibition with the purpose of writing a review, but then I stumbled across Robin Givhan's article about it in the Washington Post. Honestly, I know that her article does the topic more justice than mere paragraphs here would. Instead, I would like to talk a little about a designer who had a piece exhibited in the show, Natalia Allen. Her dress was a classic halter-style wrap dress in the most pleasing color of sea-foam green. It turns out this color refers to the actual composition of the fabric itself - a mix of algae and cellulose. The hi-tech jersey releases nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and vitamin E onto the wearer's skin.

Natalia Allen's focus on fashion is definitely innovative. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, she won their Designer of the Year in 2004. She now has her own company, and also works as a consultant to many big-name designers about the emerging field of technological fashion. I had the pleasure of meeting Natalia earlier this month at (appropriately enough) a wearable technology fashion show. In my opinion, she is one of the most exciting designers out there today. Her enthusiasm for forward-thinking fashion is evident when talking to her. She is constantly seeking ways to expand the capabilities of fashion's most basic element, fabric. Even more, her work with large fashion companies promises to help unite the realms of fashion and technology in new and viable ways.

Information:
“Black Style Now”
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue (at 103rd St)
NY, NY 10029
212.534.1672
http://www.mcny.org

Natalia Allen
http://www.nataliaallen.com

Sarah Scaturro

Eye of the Beholder

The Countesse de Castiglione, 1863-66

September 16, 2006 is the last day New Yorkers can view highlights from the late Richard Avedon's amazing photograph collection.

The oldest and most significant photos on display are those by Pierre-Louis Pierson of the Countess de Castiglione. Avedon had what was considered by many to be the most important collection of her portraits in private hands. Indeed, the small photographs on display were once owned by Christian Bérard, who mounted the photographs into a black album and then surrounded them by his own drawings and writings. Beyond their beauty, these portraits provide the fashion historian with a clear example of how the skirts in the early 1860s were beginning to form a teardrop imprint, foreshadowing the bustle periods of later decades.

As if these photos aren't reason enough to go see the show, there are also photographs by Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus and Brassaï. It took my breath away to be able to inspect Baron Adolphe de Meyer's stylized signature penciled below his portrait of the Marchesa Luisa Casati. Many times I have seen his name reprinted in early Vogues, but to see it in real life....

Info:
“Eye of the Beholder: Photographs from the Richard Avedon Collection”
Pace/MacGill Gallery
32 East 57th St., 2nd floor
212.759.7999
Ends September 16th!!! Go!

Sarah Scaturro

Love and War: The Weaponized Woman

Issey Miyake, molded plastic bustier, 1983. Photo by Irving Solero, MFIT. www.fitnyc.edu/museum

The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology unveils a daring exhibition this weekend. Exploring the discourse between hard and soft, silk and steel, lingerie and armor, Love and War: The Weaponized Woman will present modern and historical fashion objects from designers like Thierry Mugler, Narciso Rodriguez, Junya Watanabe and Jean Paul Gaultier. The exhibition runs from September 9 - December 16, 2006.

FIT will also offer a special symposium this Saturday, September 9. Speakers such as Zowie Broach and Brian Kirkby from Boudicca, Dr. Valerie Steele and Jean Yu will discuss fashion's most powerful and influential dichotomy.

Saturday, September 9
9AM-5PM
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre
$30, Free to all students, and FIT Faculty and staff

Please visit www.fitnyc.edu/museum for detailed speaker, schedule, and registration information or call 212-217-7715.

Sarah Scaturro

The Lowbrow Reader #5 out!

Drawing by Mike Reddy

Also just out is the 5th issue of the Lowbrow Reader (edited by one of our contributors, Jay Ruttenberg). An intelligent take on comedy of all kinds, the current issue features a piece on the standup work of Joan Rivers, as well as an illustrated interview with Jack White of the White Stripes (which takes place in the Fashion Projects office!). To find out more visit the site www.lowbrowreader.com

Shopdropping: Experiments in the Aisle

Zoë Sheehan Saldaña, Shopdropping (2003)

An exhibition about Shopdropping curated by Pond is currently on view at the New Gallery in Calgari, and sounds very interesting and quite humorous. Most intriguing seems to be a gentle piece by Zoë Sheehan Saldaña—a subtle comment on mass-production versus handmade and their relation to authenticity. For the piece titled Shopdropping, the artist bought a cheap Wal-Mart woman’s blouse and duplicated it by hand using matching fabric, thread and trimmings. She then returned her version of the blouse (to which she attached the original’s label and price tag of $9.94) to Wal-Mart, to be bought by unwitting shopper.

Francesca