Hospitality Design - December 2017 - 92

cultural

impact

museums

Our take: Fashion and film are so ingrained in the zeitgeist that museums are
starting to take notice, showing and celebrating how these cultural moments
resonate with the human spirit.

Paola Antonelli

Senior Curator of Architecture and Design
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York

How does MoMA's Items: Is Fashion Modern? exhibition-the
museum's first fashion-only show in more than 70 years-
explore the marriage between fashion and design?
A priority for this exhibition was to explore fashion in a way that moved
beyond the actual items, all of which were chosen for their influence and
good design, and allowed us to discuss how this field touches our lives
both profoundly and simply. This ability for fashion to act as a lens to
examine broader themes is central to how MoMA sees design. Secondly,
our clothes are the first, and perhaps most personal, interface between
ourselves and the world, allowing us to communicate different states of
mind, identities, allegiances, and desires. When you think of the pivotal
roles that fashion plays, no history of design or exploration of the design
field can be told without fashion.

What was the process of curating the exhibit like?

It involved casting an extremely wide net. In fact, at one point our
checklist was nearly 600 items. The idea was that no idea was off limits
in the beginning. My team would have what we called retreats on a
regular basis in which we would take ourselves out of the office and
spend an entire day discussing the items that had recently been added to
the list. These conversations were based on initial research and allowed
for us to both tease out the larger thesis of each item, as well as relate
each one to other items that were being discussed. From these meetings,
the sequence naturally emerged.

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December 2017 hospitalitydesign.com

There are many iconic items
featured in the exhibit,
including Colin Kaepernick's
San Francisco 49ers jersey, the
little black dress, and Levi's 501s. What stands out to you?

One of my favorite items is the hoodie because it is a brilliant example of
design, having first been introduced in the 1930s as a functional piece of
outdoor wear for athletes, but in recent years, it has become a politicized
garment, crystallized by the shooting of Trayvon Martin. It speaks to the many
layers and nuances that can be conveyed by a single garment.

Why was sunscreen such an important piece to include?

Fashion is not simply articles of clothing or accessories, but it is how we
choose to present our bodies in general, and more importantly, the changing
nature of these presentations over time. Sunscreen is a reflection of different
ideals around skin tone and how these have shifted over time. The notion
of resorting and sunbathing is an early-20th-century phenomenon that was
indicative of wealth and leisure time. Of course, in 2017, skin tone generates
other conversations around health and access, all of which speak to larger
themes that emerge within the history of fashion as well.

What conversations and ideas do you hope the exhibition sparks?

I want visitors to see themselves in the exhibition-to see the clothing that
they wear in everyday life, to think about the ramifications of their decisions to
wear particular items of clothing, why they buy them, and also why
they discard them. I want visitors to understand that, whether an item of
haute couture or a humble quotidian masterpiece like the white T-shirt,
fashion affects how we communicate, perceive, and interact as a society.
Hospitality Design - December 2017

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