NEW YORK F.I.T Museum

On the final day of my trip to New York, i spent one of my last hours exploring the F.I.T museum (Fashion Institute of Technology) Only one exhibit is shown there at a time, and the particular one on while i was there was focused of Black fashion designers. I was disappointed in the sense we went out our way to make sure we experienced the museum before we went home, and it was really quite a small exhibition. However i did find a couple of items which really interested me. Both for different reasons.

One of the first things that caught my eye was a sparkling diamond encrusted mini dress by Balmain-spring 2013. It was glistening in the back wall, diamonds are a girls best friend. Plus i love anything that sparkles, so of course i headed straight for it. ( Righthand Photo) At first it reminded me of an Irish Dancers costume with its harlequin type pattern and perturbing hemline. It was selected for the exhibit by Oliver Rousting, creative director of Balmain.who described the piece as "when craziness meets craftsmanship". The open work and detail on this dress was created from hand woven raffia and was inspired by traditional Cuban wicker chairs. The information aside this dress informed us that Oliver was only 26, and people were not surprised by his age working as the creative director for Balmain but his colour. each little Personal story aside the pieces made the exhibit a little more personal, relatable and therefore enjoyable.

The other piece that caught my eye was due to my love of streetwear, a piece by Patrick Kelly. Who's signature uniform was oversized denim overalls, so here he transformed them into a woman dress: Again the accompanying story brings the piece to life when we learn it was created as denim overalls were important as an activist tool for The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the 1960's "to employ fashion as a tactic of building community" and to "challenge expectations of respectability and propriety".