Style is everywhere, from the shops to the street to curated retrospectives. Here are our picks for where to explore fashion as creative expression, from futuristic couture to fantasyland photography.
See how fashion meets fine art at Off the Wall: American Art to Wear. The Art to Wear movement that emerged in the late 1960s applied techniques from a multitude of artistic disciplines, including painting and sculpture, to create one–of–a–kind pieces for the body. The exhibition will run at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, from November 2019 to May 2020.
Inez and Vinoodh, Kym; BLVD, 1994. (Outfit: Thierry Mugler, Longchamps collection, prêt–à–porter spring/summer 1994) Photo: Inez & Vinoodh
Revisit the over–the–top outfits by Thierry Mugler. The French couturier envisioned clothing for glamazons, superheroines and fembots (think skin–tight goddess gowns, sharp–shouldered power suits and corsets made of metal). ICYMI at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts – which produced this first–of–its–kind retrospective – Thierry Mugler: Couturissime will touch down next in Kunsthal Rotterdam, and run from October 2019 to March 2020.
Duckie Thot, Aubrey’s shadow; London, 2017. (Fashion: Saint Laurent) Photo: Tim Walker Studio
View the world through a dreamy lens. Legendary British fashion photographer Tim Walker will be a focal point at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, this fall. Alongside elaborately styled photos from the pages of Vogue, you’ll find 10 new sets of images inspired by the V&A’s own art collections. Tim Walker: Wonderful Things will show from September 2019 to March 2020.
Pierre Cardin in his atelier, 1957. Photo: Courtesy of Archives Pierre Cardin. © Archives Pierre Cardin
Go back to the future with a retrospective on Pierre Cardin. The avant–garde French designer is famous for his space–age fixation and sculptural garb circa the 1960s to ’80s. More than 170 creations were pulled from his archives and atelier, from kinetic dresses to pointy–shouldered, pagoda–inspired jackets. Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion is on now at the Brooklyn Museum, until January 2020.
Pair of boots, around 1935, Paris, Falbalas collection Photo: Hugues Dubois. © MAD Paris
Stroll through the history of shoes – impossible heels included. Marche et Démarche : Une Histoire de la Chaussure explores not only footwear styles, but also how they have affected ways of walking, from the Middle Ages to the present. Catch it at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, from November 2019 to February 2020.
Discover more fashionable people and places on our radar in September.