Brighten Up
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Black is back, but fashion is all about color at the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, where the exhibit “Fashion in Colors” opens Thursday. Adapted from the original show mounted at the Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI) in Japan, it is the first fashion design exhibition ever displayed at Cooper-Hewitt.
On display are 68 designs spanning 300 years. Designers include Chanel, Dior, Schiaparelli, Pucci, Balenciaga, Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons, and Viktor & Rolf, alongside late-18th- and 19th-century costumes and bustle dresses.
The exhibition is arranged in six monochromatic schemes: black, multicolor, blue, red, yellow, and white. “Color is increasingly a major factor in design,” Cooper-Hewitt’s curatorial director, Barbara Bloemink, said, citing personalized colors of iPods, Mini Coopers, and Nike sneakers. By saturating the viewer in one color at a time, the show draws attention to the emotions and associations evoked by each, as well as the colors’ historical significance and social context.
Over time, black has evolved from a color of mourning to one that signifies elegance. The disco era hustled multicolor attire – once considered only for Gypsies and jesters – into psychedelic popularity. The jewel tones of blue, once reserved for royalty and often paired with rich, heavy fabrics, are today democratized by denim. Red and yellow, traditionally “Oriental” colors, were popularized in Europe in the 18th century by international trade, whereas white became common with the use of cotton and bleaching methods of the late-18th and early-19th centuries.
Paradoxically, the exhibition focuses the viewer on color in order to make him forget color. “Usually the eye is easily seduced by color. Color overwhelms the shape and details,” Ms. Bloemink said. “By grouping [the designs] by color, you notice their similarities over time and their minute details, more of the designers’ artistry.”
Thursday through March 26, 2006, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, 2 E. 91st St. at Fifth Avenue, 212-849-8400.
