When we start to see how fashion serves a purpose in our culture and history, we begin to dismiss the frivolous segment of it and assimilate a more responsible and protective conduct.  Fashion needs to be seen and not just a 20-minute catwalk or shopping spree.  Museums are a cure for cultural curiosity.

The old establishment and historical perspectives are great but EDGE makes the case for balance. Contemporary fashion makers, inclusive of emerging and underrepresented voices, can offer awe-inspiring exhibits that feed the curiosity and fascination of fashion.

The Met’s “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion”, exhibited September 18, 2021 – September 5, 2022, is at the forefront of conversation, due partly to recognizing the underexposed in American contemporary fashion.  Approximately 100 men’s and women’s ensembles by a diverse range of designers from the 1940s to the present are featured.

Must See Exhibits:

In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, The Met Fifth Avenue

Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love, de Young Museum, San Francisco

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, Brooklyn Museum

Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street, Design Museum, UK

Willi Smith: Street Couture, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City

Beautiful People: The Boutique in 1960s Counterculture, Fashion and Textile Museum, London

Canvas & Silk: Historic Fashion from Museo del Traje (Spanish National Museum for Fashion), Madrid; Image & Identity: Mexican Fashion in the Modern Period, Meadows Museum, Dallas, Texas

The Ball, new fashion exhibition, Design Museum Holon, Israel

V&A Museum Plans African Fashion Exhibition, June 2022

2022 exhibits: McQueen, Africa Fashion, Guo Pei, and MORE – “Must See” published 1 January 2022

Images: In America: A Lexicon of Fashion | © The Metropolitan Museum of Art