Celebrating Beauty at the Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial

What is beauty? The Cooper-Hewitt Triennial explored this concept with 63 designers of various disciplines. They wanted to examine beauty that was > extravagant, intricate, ethereal, transgressive, transformative, emergent, and elemental. How did these designers display beauty in a contemporary way? 

We are not talking inner beauty. This was a beauty that appealed to the five physical senses. The Giambattista Valli gown was made with layers and layers of degrade tulle, both visually stunning in volume and color and soft in fabric. The objects I gravitated towards all had an element of material manipulation to create a dimensional shape.

Iris Van Herpen had a crocheted, twisted cord bodice and structured dress of resin and iron filings. She is famous for her creations that examine the body form in a technical way. 

Nail artist Naomi Yasuda created mini wearable nail sculptures inspired by Japanese kimono motifs. Mary Katranzou is known for her hyper-real prints. Her dress on the top right embellished on top of the patterns with dimensional silk and PVC textures. 

On the other hand, I had assumed the ultra bright geometric prints from the VLISCO studio were digital. They are wax resist in the Batik tradition in pored by African textiles.

These awesome millinery creations are from Maiko Takeda. They are a part of her Atmospheric Reentry collection. She constructed what she called an "aura" around the head out of tinted acrylic, plastic, and silver. 

Gareth Pugh is a favorite of anyone Goth fan who appreciatesaid high design. The color black dominated most of his collections. This makes it easier to see the extravagant silhouettes he creates. These outfits are made of leather, wool, plastic straws and more. 

The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum is great for anyone who appreciates design. Many of the exhibits are interactive. I love the electric pen you can use to save everything you like to download later. The Beauty Triennial is on now until August 21st, 2016.

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Fashion Exhibits Paris, NYC & London - Museum Roundup

Haute Couture week in Paris has just ended. The garmento glitterati are now bracing for upcoming NY Fashion Week and London Fashion week the storms to come. I invite those of you who are not attending the shows (or have lost too much sleep preparing for them) to take a break and get some inspiration from fashion’s cultural greats. (Remember those days when you weren't burnt out and had some creative drive?)


In Paris, check out the Mme Vionnet exhibit and the upcoming tribute to Animal print and motifs at Les Arts Decoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts). Also in the City of Lights, pay homage to the great Yves St. Laurent at the Petit Palais.



In New York, admire "American Beauty" at the Museum at FIT. This exhibit explores the "philosophy of beauty" and how it applies to the craft of dressmaking by American fashion designers. Also at the museum, check out "Scandals, Sandals & Lady Slippers" for all the foot fetishists out there. Over at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, the work of the Mulleavy sisters is on display in a retrospective of the Rodarte Label.



In London, look for Grace Kelly: Style Icon at the Victoria and Albert Museum. After admiring the past, look ahead to Future Fashion Now, an exhibit of the graduating designers of the Royal College of Art. At the Fashion and Textile Museum, relive London's cultural revolution with the Foale & Tuffin: Made in England exhibit.

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