CLOTH, Construct, CULTURE: fashion builds a story—presented from 24 October 2023 to 24 January 2024, at Portland’s Parallax Art Center—celebrates an unprecedented approach to the fashion exhibition. By showcasing stunning collections from contemporary international designers, the exhibition explores how fashion interrogates the social construct of today, informing and challenging the intellect of the viewer, often reaching viewers otherwise not engaged within the art world’s aesthetic discourse.
Countering a commodity-driven fashion system, their work is not about ‘cut and sew and sell’. Instead, it is about uniting materiality with cultural context, believing that fashion serves a deeper purpose along with the ecosystem that it represents. CLOTH exhibition features vanguard creators—Kyle Denman, Isabella Diorio, Korina Emmerich (Puyallup), Karen Glass, Alena Kalana, Ruree Lee, Maital Levitan, Abiola Onabulé, and Yun Qu—whose work confronts critical ecological, sociological, and cultural themes.
Introduction
At the heart of the show is how we value fashion—not just as clothing, but as art. Historically, with deep-rooted hierarchies, cultural institutions separated fine art from applied art. Fashion design has been viewed as mere craft, serving practical and functional needs of the human body, lacking artistic merit as with traditional art. However, the global rise of fashion exhibitions, collecting fashion museums, and namesake luxury brand museums proves that art institutions now view fashion as a valuable cultural asset. By shattering the traditional hierarchy of fine art, this shift places fashion and art in dialogue.
Denman, Diorio, Emmerich, Glass, Kalana, Lee, Levitan, Onabulé, and Qu, transcend commerce to treat cloth as an artistic medium—constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing textiles into three-dimensional, wearable sculptures. Curating the human form to build complex narratives challenges traditional fashion paradigms. However, it constitutes one of the most significant art forms, it captures the zeitgeist, reflecting the cultural, social, and economic tensions of an era. Fashion possesses that extraordinary power. Much like art, it allows us to witness the interpretation of its historical and cultural relevance. For example, the opulent silhouette of Glass’ Antebellum Skirt mirrors the deep-seated human and civil rights crises surrounding slavery in the 1860s pre-Civil War American South. Despite its cultural relevance, this design methodology faces steep resistance within mainstream fashion. Profit margins constantly battle creativity, and because mass-market commerce favors predictability, true innovation and artistic prowess get crushed.
Recognized as one of the top 10 shows in The Oregonian Fall Arts 2023 picks by Briana Miller,1 and with over 50 objects of exquisitely created ensembles, typically not seen in off-the-rack fashion, “CLOTH” reveals that innovative flair and socio-cultural narratives are not mutually exclusive.
Who Are The Designers?
Designers were meticulously curated from EDGE fashion intelligence, an international platform founded in 2013 that elevates design excellence from an elite group of emerging talent. Its digital magazine, EDGExpo.com, has published over 200 designer interviews and over 350 articles that convey an intelligent approach to fashion involving the shifting dynamics of socio-cultural values and deep ecological thinking. EDGE, an acronym for Emerging Designers Get Exposed, claims a unique space within the fashion industry prioritizing narratives more closely aligned with anthropologically and ethically responsible modalities of fashion.
Hailing from diverse backgrounds, these internationally trained designers have achieved widespread industry acclaim while actively supporting social and educational initiatives. Congratulations to all!
Exhibition Highlights
- Kyle Denman: Cloth Constructs a ‘Conceptual, Personal, and Poetic Vision of Humanity’
- Isabella Diorio: Women Military Vets Honored in “F. E. T.”
- Korina Emmerich: Fashion Examines Culture, the Good and the Not So Good
- Karen Glass: Shanghai Origins Meet America’s Antebellum Deep South
- Alena Kalana: Born Again. The Rebirth of the Red Bubble Skirt
- Ruree Lee: Cloth Critiques Society’s Screen Addiction
- Maital Levitan: Cultural Identity Through ‘Osmosis’
- Abiola Onabulé: Voodoo Dolls, Wizardry, and the Magic of ‘Heirloom’
- Yun Qu: The Design is in the Details
Exhibition Details
CLOTH, Construct, CULTURE: fashion builds a story, curated by Rhonda P. Hill, 24 October 2023—24 January 2024, Parallax Art Center, Portland, Oregon, USA
Notes
- Miller, Briana. 2023. “Biennials, festivals, and group shows feature great regional artists.” The Oregonian, 8 September. https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/2023/09/fall-arts-2023-biennials-festivals-and-group-shows-feature-some-of-the-regions-best-artists.html
Feature Photo Caption: The work of Yun Qu (foreground) and Karen Glass (beyond exit sign), “CLOTH, Construct, CULTURE” behind-the-scenes installation, Parallax Art Center, Portland, Oregon, October 2023. Photographed by Rhonda P. Hill.
