NEW YORK, Aug 4, 2010 / — For Fall 2010, the Fashion Culture programs organized by The Museum at FIT (MFIT) continue to provide new perspectives on the culture of fashion with events featuring conversations with famed fashion designer Matthew Williamson and Julie Gilhart, fashion director and senior vice president of Barneys New York.
Below is the Fall 2010 Fashion Culture Programs at the FIT.
The following programs are free. However, reservations are required, as space is limited. To register, email museuminfo@fitnyc.edu or call 212 217.4585. Check for program updates at www.fitnyc.edu/museum. FIT is located on Seventh Avenue and 27th Street.
LOLITA TEA PARTY
Tuesday, October 5
6-8 pm
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, first floor
This special event will begin with fascinating conversation. GASHICON, who oversees graphic design for fashion brand h.NAOTO and illustrates the HANGRY & ANGRY serial comic strip, will talk about kawaii (cuteness) culture and Japanese fashion with Masayo Fukuda-Williams and Jeff Williams, founders of the New York-based clothing store Tokyo Rebel, which features Japanese street fashion styles that include rock, punk, gothic, and Lolita, by brands such as Angelic Pretty, Victorian maiden, and SEX POT ReVeNGe. When the conversation is over, MFIT will host a tea party, complete with pastries, all things Lolita—and the opportunity to be photographed wearing charming LoliHime outfits.
FASHION SYMPOSIUM
Japan Fashion Now
Thursday and Friday, November 4 and 5
9am-5pm
Morris W. and Fannie B. Haft Auditorium
Marvin Feldman Center, second floor
This international, interdisciplinary program will bring together scholars, curators, authors, and designers to explore contemporary Japanese fashion—from the avant-garde to street and sub-cultural styles. Topics will include the historic roots of Japan’s fashion culture, the role of uniforms and uniformity, the Japanese “fashion revolution” of the 1980s, the geography of Tokyo fashion, the rise of the young male fashion consumer, and the significance of cuteness in Japanese girls’ culture.
For prices, registration, and up-to-date speaker information, visit www.fitnyc.edu/museum or email museuminfo@fitnyc.edu.
Free to FIT students, faculty, and staff, this program has been made possible in part through funding by the FIT Student-Faculty Corporation.
FASHION CONVERSATIONS
Informal, freewheeling discussions with leaders from the world of fashion.
MATTHEW WILLIAMSON and LAURA BROWN
in Conversation with Patricia Mears
Thursday, October 21, 6-8 pm
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, first floor
Join fashion designer Matthew Williamson; Laura Brown, features/special projects director at Harper’s Bazaar; and Patricia Mears, MFIT deputy director, for a lively conversation to mark the release of Matthew Williamson, a new book by fashion historian Colin McDowell. A book signing will follow.
JULIE GILHART
in Conversation with Colleen Hill and Jennifer Farley
Thursday, November 18, 6-8 pm
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, first floor
Julie Gilhart, fashion director and senior vice president of Barneys New York, has inspired many designers to develop “green” product. In 2007, she spearheaded development of an all-organic collection of casual, sexy
clothes for Barneys. Join her for a discussion about what the fashion industry can do in order to leave a lighter footprint on the earth.
Lectures and Book Signings
Eco Fashion
Sass Brown
Tuesday, October 26, 6-8 pm
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, first floor
FIT faculty member Sass Brown presents her new book, Eco Fashion,
a comprehensive look at the environmentally conscious designers who are changing the fashion industry. By promoting recycling, redesign, reuse, sustainability, fair trade, and community development, these artists combine concern for the planet with love for exceptional fashion. A book signing will follow.
Japanese Fashion in New York
Steven Alan
Thursday, October 28, 6-8 pm
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, first floor
The incredibly precise yet remarkably unstudied tailoring for which menswear designer Steven Alan is known finds its complement in his personal search for perfection in Japanese fashion. Alan will talk about that search, its rewards, and the discoveries he has made along the way.
Bye Bye Kitty!!!
Joe Earle
Tuesday, November 16, 6-8 pm
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, first floor
Joe Earle, director of the Japan Society Gallery, will preview the Japan Society’s spring 2011 exhibition, Bye Bye Kitty!!!: Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art. This exhibition will move beyond semi-ironic narratives of cuteness and powerlessness to find traditional viewpoints melded with perceptions of the present in radically creative, unsettling combinations. Earle will introduce paintings, objects, photographs, installations, and video by the artists included in the show.
BALENCIAGA: Spanish Master
Hamish Bowles
Thursday, December 2, 6-8 pm
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center, first floor
Join Hamish Bowles, Vogue’s European editor at large and curator of the exhibition BALENCIAGA: Spanish Master, for an illustrated lecture about the impact on legendary designer Cristóbal Balenciaga of Spain’s cultural and religious history, regional costumes, rich dance traditions, and its great artists, as well as the power and splendor of the bullfight. This lecture is presented in collaboration with Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in New York, where BALENCIAGA: Spanish Master will be on view from November 19, 2010 through February 19, 2011.
TALK and TOURS
Japan Fashion Now
Held on selected Monday evenings and weekday mornings. Check-in is in the lobby of The Museum at FIT, located on the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 27th Street.
Join exhibition curator Valerie Steele for a tour of the special exhibition Japan Fashion Now. Staged in a dramatic mise-en-scène evoking the cityscape of 21st-century Tokyo, this exciting exhibition features approximately 100 ensembles that represent Japanese fashion in all its radical creativity. Tours will be followed by signings of the companion book, Japan Fashion Now.
Monday, September 27, 6 pm
Monday, October 11, 6 pm
Tuesday, October 19, 10:30 am
Wednesday, November 17, 10:30 am
Eco-Fashion: Going Green
Co-curators Jennifer Farley and Colleen Hill will lead tours of Eco-Fashion: Going Green, an exhibition that surveys 250 years of fashion’s complex relationship with the environment. The show features brands such as Stella McCartney, Bodkin, EDUN, FIN, Martin Margiela, and NOIR.
Wednesday, September 22, 10:30 am (Farley)
Monday, October 4, 6 pm ((Farley)
Wednesday, October 27, 10:30 am (Hill)
Monday, November 8, 6 pm (Hill)
Workshops
The Origomu Project
Tatiana Pages
Thursday, October 7
10:30 am-1 pm
MFIT lobby
Led by Tatiana Pages, workshop participants will craft unique jewelry pieces from recycled and renewable materials. To learn more, visit ww.origomu.com.
Cross-Pollination: Eco-Fashion: Going Green
Online event
Students from FIT and the Mexican school CENTRO will share their skills, diverse perspectives, and interpretations of the MFIT exhibition Eco-Fashion: Going Green. Results will be published online at www.fitnyc.edu/museum
