Past Exhibitions
On Bodies: Highlights from The Goss-Michael Foundation and the UNT Texas Fashion Collection
UNT News, "UNT's Texas Fashion Collection features ensembles along British art in new exhibition"
Sportswear to Athleisure: The Creation of Comfortable Clothing
“Sportswear to Athleisure” draws from the holdings of the Texas Fashion Collection, part of the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design. This exhibition features historic ensembles from iconic sportswear designers Claire McCardell, Vera Maxwell, and Calvin Klein and includes recent acquisitions by Riccardo Tisci, Yohji Yamamoto, Charles Smith II, and Mary Katrantzou. Together these ensembles demonstrate the chronology of comfortable clothing, from early outdoor leisure fashions to stylish gym-to-street athleisure of today. (Photo credit: Brandon Nichols)
Reimaginging the Kimono
Reimagining the Kimono, organized by the UNT Texas Fashion Collection, explores the ways in which the kimono has inspired designers through its form, fabric, and floral motifs. Late twentieth-century Japanese wedding kimonos, known as uchikake, represent the traditional garment with a bold use of color and pattern. Selections of silk chiffon haute couture gowns by Hanae Mori offer modern interpretations of Japanese iconography and the iconic form of the kimono. Historic designs by Oscar de la Renta, Pauline Trigere, and Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe, among others, offer high-fashion examples of the multiplicity of ways in which the kimono has inspired American and European designers.
Art Meets Fashion: 1965-2015
This celebratory exhibition features specific examples of dress chosen to reflect the synergy between art and fashion during the past fifty years, from 1965 to the present. The works included illustrate the highly creative ways that art and fashion have intersected and continue to break new ground. Fashion revivals champion design elements of the recent past and continue to be reinterpreted as visible, vibrant markers of culture today.
An Artistic Alliance: Art and Couture by Amy Zerner from the collection of Torie Gibralter
This exhibition represents the bond that was formed between the artist Amy Zerner, and her friend, patron, and client, Torie Gibralter of Dallas. The designs include an array of jackets, robes, kimonos and tapestries created by Amy for Torie to enjoy over the past decade. Fashion designers are often inspired by their clients in compelling ways, forming a unique kind of exchange that goes on between the customer who comes to a specific designer seeking a custom-made garment.
"American Brides: Inspiration and Ingenuity." June - October 2014. Patterson-Appleton Center for the Visual Arts, Denton, TX.
American Brides: Inspiration and Ingenuity
The Joy Losee Collection: Art and Dress Along the Silk Road
Celebrating selected international dress from recent donations to the TFC by Joy Losee, this exhibition draws together garments from across the Eastern Hemisphere and encourages the contemplation of traditional dress as a vital part of material culture. It provides an opportunity to examine costumes that incorporate designs and motifs derived from the artistic traditions of peoples from a six-thousand mile area of overlapping trade routes.
American by Design: The 1950s
Fashion of the 1950s is synonymous with the full-skirted, tiny waist silhouettes prompted by Christian Dior’s New Look. People were optimistic as the economy boomed. Women were ready to look feminine and pretty, which began with the `right’ dress. Impeccably groomed and accessorized, American women gained a reputation around the world for their beauty. New York became a style center in the world market. American fashion designers became household names. Each of the designers featured in this exhibition found creative ways to deliver the perfect dress for every occasion. They promoted comfort, versatility, and functionality while embracing fine tailoring and innovative design. Synthetic fabrics were introduced which opened new possibilities for the designer, and the ease of care for the consumer. American design made its mark during the 1950s and continues to impact the world of high fashion.
Gilbert Adrian, best known as Adrian, was born in Connecticut in 1903. He quickly made his mark as a costume designer, designing for all the great stars of the time, such as Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford. He encountered substantial obstacles resulting from WWII, such as rationing restrictions on fabrics and dyes, but he realized that the war brought a special opportunity for American designers to gain recognition. With great versatility and a wide range of inspirations, Adrian became a leader to other American designers and helped establish the American high-fashion industry. Whether it was a sparkling gown or a tailored suit, Adrian dared to design American.
This exhibition allows us to peek through the social, historical lens of childhood through time beginning with the post Civil War through The Great Depression. Girls’ party dresses, several boys’ outfits, and many other children’s wear treasures from the Texas Fashion Collection and the private collection of Steven Porterfield, owner of the Cat’s Meow in Midland, Texas are featured. We see children’s influence shaping and shifting fabrics and palettes, and casting off corsets and crinolines in the name of Child’s Play.
Egyptian Elegance
Futher exhibition information coming soon.