2010 has been a lively year for the textile and fashion arts department. The exhibition, Fashion in Bloom closed the end of January with a great lecture by associate curator of Costume and Textiles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kristina Haugland, titled, Revealing Garments: A Brief History of Women’s Undergarments. Soon after, we began preparing the Paul Textile and Fashion Arts galleries for the current exhibition, Body Unbound: Contemporary Couture from the IMA’s Collection which closes January 30, 2011, so go see it soon!

The Fashion Arts Society was founded in 2010 as well, with great response. The organization hosted their first fundraiser for the department, an after-party for the IMA fashion show Project IMA: Fashion Unbound titled Behind the Seams. The event went off without a hitch, and enjoyed by all who attended. FAS membership is growing steadily and the FAS calendar for 2011 will not disappoint.

In November the exhibition, Read My Pins, the Madeleine Albright Collection opened at the IMA with great success. The installation is beautiful and the catalogue accompanying the exhibition is a delight.
Dr. Albright visited the museum in early November, for a book signing and lecture, which was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had to date. Dr. Albright is as witty as she is smart and I think I am not alone in saying that everyone left the Toby that evening smiling.

This year the department also acquired about 45 new acquisitions, two of which is a dress (1972) by Halston (now on view on the IMA’s 3rd floor just outside the entrance for the Fashion Arts Gallery) and a complete Rudi Gernreich Japanese schoolboy ensemble (1967).

ensemble; ‘Japanese schoolboy’, 1967 by Rudi Gernreich (2010.205a-f) Caroline Marmon Fesler Fund

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Filed under: Art

This post was written by Jessica Barner, one of the IMA’s Conservation Technicians, who works with the Textiles and Objects Conservators. As the textile department prepares for the upcoming exhibition, Material World, stay tuned for more posts on the collection and exhibition organization. Enjoy!

After reading a previous blog about museum storage, we thought it would be fun to share the fine work of our Packing & Storage Department. John Ross, one of our Storage & Packing Technicians, created a beautifully-crafted housing to store the headdress of an African dancer’s costume. This costume is of the Poro Society – a society mainly found on the Western coast of Africa. The term Wenilegei means “bird man,” so I guess one could say that John contained the “bird man!”

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Filed under: Art, Conservation

About 900 people visited the IMA last Friday night to attend two showings of Project IMA: Fashion Unbound. Of the 40 designers that traveled from all over the country, a local designer and student, Jeremy B. Hunt won the best of show prize for his crinoline inspired ensemble made entirely of packing material and card board. The Elizabeth Kraft-Meek fashion design award of $500 was awarded to Jeremy based on the decisions of three talented judges, Jacqueline Buckingham Anderson, CEO of Style Meets Life, David Hochoy, Artistic Director for Dance Kaleidoscope and Lisa Silhanek, CEO of Silhanek Ltd., and the former director of IMG Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

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Filed under: Current Events, Design

A few months ago I wrote a post on data entry and clean-up. While to some, it may first seem uneventful- the glow of the computer screen, clacking keys, cream colored files.

It is really quite exciting; allow me to share just a few reasons why.

While researching the American textile collection, I delighted in studying our 1930s and 1940s textiles, a few of which were designed and produced as part of the Milwaukee WPA Handicraft project. This was a highly successful WPA venture that provided work for under-skilled people. The project engaged workers in a multitude of handcraft practices, instructed by designer- technicians drawn from graduates of the Milwaukee State Teachers College art department.

In the IMA’s collection, we have two examples of textiles that were produced as the result of this highly successful project; both designed by Florence Kawa.

The Reapers, Florence Kawa (39.41)

The Workers, Florence Kawa (39.42)

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Filed under: Art

So here we are, in the midst of Fashion Week (Have you been paying attention?) and even though we in Indianapolis are safely out of the way of all the hustle and bustle of tent life in New York, we are in the midst of preparing for a little hustle of our own.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

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Filed under: Current Events, Design