last weekend i slogged out through the snow and the slush to catch 2 great exhibits going on in nyc right now. the balenciaga exhibit at the spanish institute up in the upper east side (open through feb 19), and the japan fashion now exhibit at the fit museum in chelsea (open through april 2).
the museums only permit sketches in pencil (not pen, and certainly not with a camera) so i busted out my sketchbook and went to town.
the balenciaga exhibit, curated by hamish bowles, was amazing. i loved the way they separated out the many garments by influences instead of simple chronology. the references ranged from bullfighting, to traditional spanish regional dressing, to 'the glories of the church.'
the exhibit also included photographs and paintings from the different eras in which the garments were constructed. cristobal balenciaga's career spanned from the 1930s to his retirement in 1968, and it was amazing to see the beautiful hourglass figures that so typified the 1950s silhouette and the continuously large and lush draping. the dresses in the collection evoke a strong spanish sensuality; a very confident and adventurous but solely feminine sexiness.
below is a copy of a real balenciaga sketch done in the claude atelier. i always find it fascinating to see how other designers work out ideas on paper. i consider my own sketches to be mostly chicken scratch when i'm actually designing. its only later when i'm having to present the ideas to other that they get cleaned up and more coherent.
in a totally different speed came the japan fashion now exhibit. japanese designers like jun takahashi for undercover have caught my attention from the beginning of my own fashion research. as opposed to the balenciaga exhibit where it was really a beautifully preserved time capsule of a rich world i had never truly experienced, this exhibit read like bullet points from my own sketchbooks through the years. i remember in 2006 when the
undercover fall collection came out with all the leather face masks with the nose-to-ear chains attached. i had the pictures pinned up on my bulletin board.
so it was really exciting to see these garments in person after becoming familiar with a few of them in 2d. one of my favorite things from the exhibit (see below left) was the
pale blue dress from the undercover ss05 collection. the long grey hair extensions drew me in, but as i sketched i realized there was a row of googley eyes trimming the dress at chest level. and little silk flowers hand sewn to the mesh gloves. genius!
and i feel like i can't not mention the founding fathers and mother of this whole crazy fashion revolution: issey miyake, yohji yamamoto and rei kawakubo of comme des garcons are in full effect at the exhibit. one of my favorite comme pieces in the exhibit- and there's quite a few- is the pink gingham skirt (see below right). i love the tiered levels cascading down each side, deconstructing the formal hourglass silhouettes from the balenciaga exhibit!
