What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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8 What's up! september 25-OctOber 1, 2022 Faq 'Fashioning America' WHEN — Open now until Jan. 30, 2023 WHERE — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way, Bentonville COST — $12 for adults, free for members, SNAP participants, veter- ans and youth 18 and younger INFO — crystalbridges.org FyI Fashion Symposium A fashion symposium is planned in partnership with the CFDA for Oct. 26, bringing together leading industry voices to celebrate Amer- ican fashion design and share stories, experiences and insights on sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusivity. The day will culmi- nate with the museum's first-ever gala to support museum educa- tion programs. COver STOry Stitches In Time crystal bridges opens closets of fashion history APRIL WALLACE NWA Democrat-Gazette I f you're under the impression that American fashion trends come only from Los Angeles and New York, Michelle Tolini Finamore is out to change your mind with "Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour," the first exhibit dedicated to fashion at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The exhibit gives a sense of American fashion history through some recognizable names — Ralph Lauren, Nike, Vera Wang, Levi-Strauss — but more so through "little-known fashion heroes" and designers who didn't get much recognition the first time around, including the work of many Black and Indigenous designers. "Fashioning America" opened to the public on Sept. 10 and will be on display through Jan. 30. "The goal was to include and think about the stories we haven't told," says curator Finamore, who worked on collecting items and creating the exhibit for the past two years. "We wanted to draw out and tease out some of those stories about why certain designers have histories that are recorded and some don't, which often has to do with the color of your skin." So while visitors see names that they'll be familiar with if they're interested in the fashion world, like mid-century designer Claire McCardell, known for ready-to-wear clothing and credited with creating American sportswear, they'll also see many Native American designer names for the first time, names that don't appear in most accounts of fashion history. Many of the items displayed from Indigenous designers are more contemporary in nature, Finamore says, because the designers haven't participated in the American fashion world on the same scale as other designers. One example of a Black designer now getting a chance for her work to shine on display is Phoebe, who was based in Charleston, S.C. The dress she created was likely a 1914 wedding gown that was donated to another museum by a relatively wealthy white woman, but Phoebe's last name and other details about her are not known. "That's indicative of which history is recorded and which is not," Finamore says. Unearthing fashion treasures like this dress creates an opportunity to research and learn more about their creators. Black designer Patrick Kelly, who was from the South, was more well known but had to leave the U.S. to find his success. He was the first American to make it into the Federation francaise de la couture, the prestigious governing body of the French ready-to-wear industry. One piece in "Fashioning America" that calls special attention to the unknown Black history of fashion is a typewriter ensemble. Typewriter keys are sewn on the bodice and small sheets of material that look like typed letters are fastened together into a skirt over a pair of pants. It's by Pyer Moss, who wanted to use the outfit to call attention to the African American inventor who helped create the typewriter. Moss has an entire collection based on unknown Black inventors and has shown this particular piece at the Madam C.J. Walker Estate in upstate New York. Other designers were chosen for their breaking or otherwise going against industry standards, such as Christian Siriano. He found fame on "Project Runway" as a pioneering voice for diversity in terms of size and body positivity, often dressing celebrities who had trouble finding designers who would do so. His dress for Nicole Byer and some of his items from Rhianna's lingerie line are in the exhibit. Siriano's works are "about size positivity and inclusivity," Finamore says. "To not have all size 2 mannequins when that's not the reality of the world. That's kind of where you land when a lot of the In the introductory section of "Fashioning america: Grit to Glamour," crystal bridges' first exhibition dedicated to fashion, are pieces that show general american fashion traditions, as well as some disruptions of it. this custom chain stitched western "texas" suit (center) and a rhinestone "nudie" suit are examples of the rhinestone cowboy look that originated with Nudie cohn, the rodeo tailor. (NWa Democrat-Gazette/charlie Kaijo) In Case You Wondered A lot of work goes into dressing a mannequin for a fashion exhibit. With each garment, curator Michelle Tolini Finamore says, they think about the body that would go underneath, the ideal body shape at that particular time and the undergarment that would make it fit properly. Workers cover the mannequin in hoisery, add foam, fiber filling, stuffing and gauze; they build out the hips, busts and butts. "It's really creating a human form under the garment," she says. Lots of steaming is involved and a lot of manipulating to help it work best: changing out an arm, or realizing when mannequin pairings or their poses don't work together.