The good news: yesterday it was announced that the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago will hold a retrospective of Virgil Abloh’s career. The bad news: the exhibit won’t open until next summer. For fashion fans that can’t wait to get their museum fix, here are six fashion exhibits currently on display around the world to check out:
Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
The Costume Institute’s annual mega-exhibit this year takes place in two locations: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s main location on Fifth avenue, and The Cloisters (its uptown off-shoot). The Fifth avenue location has the bigger draw — the Papal vestments, on loan from the Vatican — but trekking between the two locations is well worth the time (it helps that the Cloisters is absolutely gorgeous). Heavenly Bodies runs until October 8th.
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Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier (The Design Museum)
The late, great Alaïa passed away at the end of 2017, and the world of fashion is still deep in mourning. Thankfully, fans can have one last moment with the designer — he co-curated an exhibit (not a retrospective) of his work going as far back as the 1980s. Catch the show at The Design Museum in London, on now until October 7th.
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Ann Ray: The Unfinished — Lee McQueen (Arles Festival 2018)
For fans who left screenings of the documentary McQueen wanting more, run to Arles, France, for the annual photography festival — which features an exhibit of Ann Ray’s intimate photographs of her time with the designer. Ray, a close friend of McQueen’s, captured thousands of images backstage at his shows. Fans who can’t make it to the festival needn’t fret. A catalogue of the work is available for purchase online.
Celebrating Bill Cunningham (New-York Historical Society)
New Yorkers have a particular fondness for Bill Cunningham, regardless of whether or not they were interested in fashion. Cunningham’s eye for style was inclusive — he didn’t care if he was photographing a major editor, or just someone on their way to the office, so long as they were chic in their own way. It should come as no surprise that the New York Historical Society would find a way to honor the city icon. But hurry — it ends September 9th.
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Iris Van Herpen: Transforming Fashion (The Royal Ontario Museum)
Iris Van Herpen’s 3-D printed couture is so out of this world, it’s hard to believe it is fashion at all. Considering many of her garments resemble sculptures, seeing them on display at a museum makes perfect sense. Transforming Fashion is on now at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto until October 8th.
Fashioned From Nature (The Victoria & Albert Museum)
For those in search of a more conceptual exhibit (rather than one centered on a specific individual), be sure to check out the V&A’s show, Fashioned From Nature, which explores fashion alongside natural history, as well as how clothing and textiles are made. It also looks at the potential future of the fashion industry, and how new technology is allowing us to turn materials like plastic into fabric.
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