“Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour,” an ongoing exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art, highlights the development of high fashion western workwear, streetwear, and more to showcase Black, queer, Native, and immigrant contributions to American culture.
In America, styles have come and gone, shifting organically just as much as they’re influenced by those big names of fashion. The exhibition aims to show how all of that is woven together to form a shared history – exhibiting a plethora of designers, past and present, whose work gives their own interpretations of being an American.
The “Glamour” section was graced by garments that have made their way across stages and runways. This contrasts with the “Grit” section in which designs are akin to a “hardworking outdoor culture that produced denim and western wear.”
With no chronology, patrons wafted through the NOMA’s space. The exhibit’s ideas were tied around its sections, which also included “Streetwear”– Dapper Dan to Virgil Abloh, “Intimates,” and “Fashioning the future”– contemporary designers representing the forward path of fashion.
Though big names could be found amongst the hand-stitched dresses and fast-fashion pieces, the curators cleared the runway for designers who might be lesser-known.
“Stories and voices from the historical margins, including those of immigrants, women, and designers of color,” the curators wrote, “spotlight how the multifaceted American experience is reflected in fashion.”
Under a matching set of fringe suits with intricately stylish piping, the inscription for Anna Sui’s “Cowgirl and Cowboy” Ensemble spoke for the designer– “I am an American, born in suburbia… I sucked up everything that the mass media could unleash on me. Optimism and romance– they’ve always colored my americana.”
At the same time, a sunset and violet colored dress represented Henry “Kiva” New. “During New’s tenure as the head of the Institute of American Indian Art between 1961 and 1978, he trained multiple generations of Native designers.” At the exhibition, Native designers were represented in almost all the sections, and multiple time periods.
But should you focus on the work of Rudi Gernreich– a pioneer of genderless clothing and partner to controversy, who designed mini-skirts for both men and women in the 60s? Or perhaps on “Quinceañera Dress” by Carlota Alfaro, known as Puerto Rico’s “grande dame of fashion?”
America’s fashion has a legacy of its own. It’s constantly being created, and the stories of those who help create it express history as much as their work expresses style.
For those who appreciate fashion or favor an interesting view into the past, the NOMA will be an attractive place to be until Nov. 26.
