NATALIE SENIOR GREENBERG
IF YOU LOVE FASHION, THERE ARE TWO MUSEUM SHOWS THAT ARE ‘MUST SEES’ IN NEW YORK CITY RIGHT NOW. THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART’S COSTUME INSTITUTE IS CURRENTLY SHOWING, IN AMERICA: A LEXICON OF FASHION AND THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM IS CURRENTLY SHOWING CHRISTIAN DIOR: DESIGNER OF DREAMS.
The shows differ in that the Metropolitan Museum show includes many diverse American fashion designers, and the Brooklyn Museum show focuses on just one French designer, Christian Dior.
In America: A Lexicon of Fashion at the Met is inspired by a “patchwork quilt.” An 1856 quilt from the Met’s own American Wing collection is shown at the entrance of the show and serves as a metaphor for the US and its varied cultural identities. The displays of the fashion mannequins, (each seems to be floating in its own cubicle), are geometrically stacked and lined up just like the geometry of a quilt. And just like the patterns of a quilt, which relate to each other either in color or motif, the fashions are displayed with relationships to one another.
Dozens of fashions from the 1940s to the present are arranged into twelve sections based on the emotional qualities of: nostalgia, belonging, delight, joy, wonder, affinity, confidence, strength, desire, assurance, comfort, and consciousness. The fashions include not only well-known designers, but also new, emerging and diverse designers, showing that American fashion is always moving, changing and growing. It’s fun to walk through the collection and see the beautiful fashions from the past and the new fashions by young, up and coming designers. The fashions are well organized and displayed in an easy to approach manner.
In America: A Lexicon of Fashion will run though September 2022, but a new addition to the show: In America: An Anthology of Fashion will open on May 7, 2022.
Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams arrived at the Brooklyn Museum after being shown first in Paris in 2017. It is a very large, glamorous and theatrical show highlighting eight decades of designs by Christian Dior. Fans of Dior will appreciate the details in the exhibition and if you are not familiar with the brand, you will get a wonderful history lesson in fashion.
The extensive exhibition, which features several silhouettes on display for the first time, walks the viewer through Christian Dior’s relationship with New York. It takes you on his journey from his atelier in Paris to the United States. Throughout the exhibition, guests get lost in the wonderful world of Christian Dior through never-before-seen haute couture creations, designs from the House’s successive Artistic Directors like Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Raf Simmons, and more, and finally, a collection of dresses that have been worn by celebrities from Princess Diana and Grace Kelly to Penelope Cruz and Nicole Kidman.
The entire exhibit is visually stunning, taking you through garden inspired displays to heavenly, cloud-like presentations. This show is not to be missed!
Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams will be on display until February 20, 2022. Both the Met and Brooklyn Museum shows require advanced timed ticketing.
Natalie Senior Greenberg is a Brooklyn College Art History professor, and the founder, curator and owner of an online art gallery.
