Exhibitions Tokyo. Luxury in Fashion Reconsidered. Museum of Contemporary Art. The Curated Object

 

Dress (robe à la française, detail） Mid 18th Century, Italian, Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Taishi Hirokawa

 

Heels, French, c.1925, collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Taishi Hirokawa

 

Indian Evening Dress, detail c.1850, Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Takashi Hatakeyama  

 

Roy Lichtenstein (textile design) Lee Rudd Simpson (dress design) Dress, c.1965, Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Takashi Hatakeyama

 

Comme des Garçon(Rei Kawakubo), Ensemble Spring/Summer 1997, Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Takashi Hatakeyama

 

Comme des Garçon(Rei Kawakubo), Dress Autumn/Winter 1991, Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, 

Gift of Comme des Garçon Co., Ltd. photo by Taishi Hirokawa

 

Maison Martin Margiela, Waistcoat, Spring/Summer 2006, (c) Maison Martin Margiela　Photo by Marina Faust, Paris

 
 
Luxury In Fashion Reconsidered

Oct. 31 - Jan. 17, 2010

What better place than Japan for a museum to examine the "hard challenges" of luxury and all that it connotes? After all, it was here that a ferocious appetite for both newbie fashion labels like Prada and classic warhorses like Louis Vuitton saw state-of-the-art, architecturally splendid flagships erected in Tokyo, and from where these and other brands once reaped as much as a third of their revenue. 

One of the aims of clothing, the museum posits, is to flaunt wealth. The 100 pieces assembled, which date to the 17th-century and come courtesy of the Kyoto Costume Institute, more than aptly prove that point. One section, "Ostentation," collects ornamental works featuring lavish use of gold and silver thread, brocade, and stitching. These include a bodice given to Elizabeth I as well as pieces by Continental moderns like Schiaparelli, Chanel, and Balenciaga. "Less is More," on the other hand, shows dresses which emphasize form, cut, and material to suggest, by virtue of their very craftsmanship, expense. 

Two companion exhibits center on the works of Japan's pre-eminent but highly subversive designer, Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons, and the one-offs of Maison Martin Margiela, with their emphasis on rarity-- JoAnn Greco

For more information, please visit www.mot-art-museum.jp

Comments

[Jane]

Those heels are amazing. What an exhibition this is. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

[Goji]

Amazing!