TOP FASHION DESIGNERS WORKING IN PARIS FEATURED IN MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON EXHIBITION

Written by Kenneth Stallings Wednesday, 24 November 2010 23:56

BOSTON, MA - Fashion Show: Paris Collections 2006 will debut on November 12, 2006 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). This major museum exhibition will bring together the latest designs from 10 of the most influential and creative fashion houses of our time.  Fashion Show will feature the luxurious and provocative clothing seen on Paris runways in 2006, including designs by Azzedine Alaїa, Hussein Chalayan, Chanel, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Maison Martin Margiela, Rochas, Valentino, Viktor & Rolf, and Yohji Yamamoto.  Highlighting approximately 10 pieces from each house’s spring couture or fall ready-to-wear collection, the exhibition will explore contemporary fashion in Paris, from the elegant and iconic to the audacious and avant-garde, and will include some of the most imaginative designs to hit the runway in years.  It will also offer insight into the reasons why Paris has remained the center of the fashion world for more than 300 years.  Fashion Show will be on view in the MFA’s Gund Gallery through March 18, 2007.

“Selected from the Paris runways earlier this year, the garments comprising Fashion Show: Paris Collections 2006 capture the originality and excellence in design of today’s top fashion houses,” said Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the MFA. 

“From haute couture to experimental ready-to-wear, it’s clear to see that we are in the midst of one of the most exciting periods in fashion history.”

The designers included in Fashion Show reflect the diversity and talent that is the hallmark of contemporary Paris fashion.  Some houses, like Chanel and Valentino, continue to follow the tradition of haute couture, while others such as Maison Martin Margiela and Yohji Yamamoto push fashion’s boundaries in order to reevaluate long-held traditions of how clothing is made and worn.  Still other designers, such as Hussein Chalayan, treat fashion as a social commentary, using the runway as a tool of artistic expression to explore world events, environmental issues, or the status of women.

Pamela Parmal, the MFA’s David and Roberta Logie Curator of Textile and Fashion Arts, is the curator of Fashion Show.  She attended the Paris runway shows of 2006 and worked closely with each house to select the garments to be shown in the MFA’s exhibition.

“The fashion industry has evolved considerably over time, but never more than in the last few years, as the runway show has moved from the house salon to the theaters of the Louvre,” said Parmal.  “Having the opportunity to show these contemporary runway fashions demonstrates that, while the industry may be in flux, the level of creativity found on the runway may be higher than it has ever been.”

Fashion Show will include:

• Valentino (Spring-Summer 2006 Couture – L'École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, 23 January 2006) – Graceful designs in soft shades of ivory, pink, and lilac characterize Valentino’s latest collection.  These couture creations are a lighter variation on Valentino’s more heavily luxurious looks of the past.  However, the collection is not without a signature dramatic red gown befitting a Hollywood superstar.
  
• Christian Dior (Spring-Summer 2006 Couture – Bois de Boulogne Polo, 23 January 2006) – Part French Revolution and part Marquis de Sade, John Galliano’s bold and seductive collection includes large red satin capes, laced leather biker pants, and tight corsets.
  
• Christian Lacroix (Spring-Summer 2006 Couture – L'École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, 24 January 2006) – Lacroix’s romantic and poetic collection presents clothing that mixes historic costume references with memories of his Provençal upbringing.  His mix of color, fabric, and textures coalesces in a collection that is both visually inventive and classically couture.
  
• Chanel (Spring-Summer 2006 Couture – Grand Palais, 24 January 2006) – Pure Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld’s collection features youthful updates of the classic suit, as well as feminine, beautifully crafted dresses that subtly reference house signatures.
  
• Maison Martin Margiela (Artisanal Collection, Spring-Summer 2006 – Maison Martin Margiela, rue St. Maur, 23-26 January 2006) – Featuring garments constructed from recycled items––pants made of gas mask bags and vests made of bottle caps or playing cards––the pieces in the “artisanal collection” are unique and constructed by hand in the atelier.
  
• Yohji Yamamoto (Ready-to-Wear, Fall-Winter 2006-07 – Espace Ephémère Tuileries 26 February 2006) – Inspired by menswear, suits dominate the current work of Yamamoto.  However, Yamamoto delivers the unexpected, with pants that unzip at the bottom to become dresses, or jackets with an extra pair of sleeves.
• Viktor & Rolf (Ready-to-Wear, Fall-Winter 2006-07 – Espace Ephémère, Jardin des Tuileries 27 February 2006) – Viktor & Rolf’s fall ready-to-wear collection takes on such classics as the little black dress, the French trench, and the crinolined evening dress.  The rigidity of these traditional styles is emphasized in the basket-weave fencing masks originally worn by the models, as well as by the literal stiffness of various details––from a bow to an entire bodice­­––electroplated with silver, as one might preserve a baby shoe.
  
• Rochas (Ready-to-Wear, Fall-Winter 2006-07 – Espace Ephémère, Jardin des Tuileries, 27 February 2006) – Inspired by chimney sweeps, Olivier Theyskens captures the mystique of the Rochas woman in shades of black and grey.  From Victorian-inspired pantsuits to evening dresses that evoke billows of smoke, Theyskens’ poetic clothing reflects the craftsmanship and elegance of the past.  This is the last Rochas collection by Theyskens, as the house recently announced it will be closing its ready-to-wear division.
  
• Hussein Chalayan (Repose, Ready-to-Wear, Fall-Winter 2006-07 – Carousel du Louvre, 1 March 2006) – The creative and conceptual work of Chalayan is seen in this collection that emphasizes comfort, and references overstuffed furniture with armchair-like leather collars and a paneled, wood-grain-printed silk dress.
  
• Azzedine Alaїa (Ready-to-Wear, Fall-Winter 2006-07 – Azzedine Alaïa, rue de Moussy, March 2006) – Alaїa, who does not show during fashion week, prefers instead to create timeless garments, not bound by particular seasons.  He remains an innovator and his styles continue to be much sought after due to their fine craftsmanship and his precision of cut and fit.
  

The designers’ varying styles will be captured in the exhibition through unique installations reflecting the environment in which each runway collection was originally presented.  Accessories, special lighting effects, and video of the 2006 Paris shows will intensify the experience, ranging from the seductive atmosphere of Christian Dior’s runway––with its wall of mirrors and deep scarlet lighting––to the subdued hues of Yohji Yamamoto.  Christian Lacroix’s highly decorative creations will be displayed on a platform aptly covered in sparkling gold fabric, with each pouf and flounce of his clothing glowing under dramatic spotlights.  In contrast, the Valentino installation will recreate the hot and arid desert theme of the 2006 runway show with images of sand dunes and the vast desert sky.

A variety of accessories will be utilized in the installations as well.  The Chanel mannequins will be wearing the same flat, white go-go boots worn by models in the original Paris runway show––an homage, not to the ‘60s, but to a pair of boots worn by the pioneering Coco Chanel in the ‘50s.  Likewise, the Viktor & Rolf mannequins will don the dramatic face coverings models wore in Paris.  All of the design house installations will include video of the 2006 runway shows, and save two (Azzedine Alaїa and Maison Martin Margiela), will also be accompanied by the atmospheric music played––such as Dior’s haunting, chanting soundtrack, and the piano piece composed during the Hussein Chalayan show.  The MFA is not offering a conventional audio guide for Fashion Show.  Instead, the music will be provided by a revolutionary system of directed sound that is audible in the area near each designer’s runway, but does not bleed over into the rest of the gallery.

RELATED EXHIBITION
During Fashion Show: Paris Collections 2006, the Museum will also feature Fashion Photography, an exhibition that explores approximately 75 captivating photographs by many of the field’s most significant image-makers of the past century.  This exhibition, on view in the Trustman Gallery from November 18, 2006 through March 25, 2007, will include photographs by Cecil Beaton, Edward Steichen, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Deborah Turbeville, Helmut Newton, and Herb Ritts.

Visit the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, at www.mfa.org