If you are staying in New York this weekend you must put aside a few hours to cruise through the exhibit at The Museum at FIT. It is a amazing exhibit featuring some of the strongest works of the last 50 years, created by members of the Fashion Design Council of America. The official blurb on the exhibit from FIT's website:
Impact: 50 Years of the CFDA is the first museum exhibition to celebrate the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the leading fashion trade organization in the United States. Approximately 100 garments and accessories designed by the CFDA’s most impactful creators of the last fifty years are on view. Also included in the exhibition are visual images and acknowledgment of the nearly 600 designers who have been members over the last five decades. Each living designer participating in the exhibition has selected a single object or ensemble that best represents his or her impact on the fashion world. Work by historical CFDA members have been selected by exhibition curators, Patricia Mears, deputy director of The Museum at FIT, and Fred Dennis, the museum’s senior curator. Impact: 50 Years of the CFDA is a collaborative partnership between the Museum at FIT and the CFDA.Conceived by CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg, Impact is an ode to the illustrious designs of the CFDA’s many members and marks the organization’s 50th anniversary in 2012.Among the designers included in the exhibition are Halston, Norman Norell, Pauline Trigère, Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass, Rudi Gernreich, Bob Mackie, James Galanos, Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Isabel Toledo, Rodarte, and Proenza Schouler. The exhibition is organized thematically to illuminate the broad spectrum of American creativity, from functional sportswear to couture-quality evening wear.
In a behind the scenes glimpse, Clair Watson has interviewed Patricia Mears, the deputy director of the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology. (Claire is the Director of, and oversees, the Vintage Collections section on 1st Dibs. She is an endless source of knowledge and inspiration for myself and the other dealers who have been invited to participate there and is an amazing resource and source of inspiration to anyone who is even remotely serious about vintage)
The two pages above are just the beginnings of the full interview — click here to read the full article.
I also will leave you with some mouth watering sneak peaks of a few pieces included in the exhibit that the wonderful folks over at MFIT have allowed me to share with you!
PS If you do pop by the exhibit — please share your experience with us in the comments!