The Exhibition Highlights the Creativity and Legacy of Women Fashion Designers in the Met’s Permanent Collection
The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened its highly anticipated Women Dressing Women exhibition. The exhibition explores the creativity and legacy of women fashion designers in the Met’s permanent collection, tracing a lineage of makers from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day by highlighting celebrated designers, new voices, and forgotten histories alike.
Women Dressing Women will feature the work of over seventy womenswear designers, from the early 20th century to today, from French haute couture by legendary designers like Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Madeleine Vionnet, to American makers like Ann Lowe, Claire McCardell, and Isabel Toledo. Meanwhile, contemporary fashion will be represented by pieces from Iris van Herpen, Rei Kawakubo, Anifa Mvuemba, and Simone Rocha.
Though women and what they wear have always been the focal point of fashion design, women creators have often been excluded from positions of power and left out of the historical narrative. The exhibition fills these gaps in history by showing that contributions from women designers have been disproportionately unrecognized, while championing the visionary women who take the leading roles in shaping fashion today.
While many of the exhibition’s representative names – like Jil Sander and Diane Von Furstenburg – are familiar, some attest to undersung legacies in fashion history. Ann Lowe, for example, was a Black designer who most famously designed Jacqueline Kennedy’s 1953 wedding gown, but has only begun to be recognized for her many other important achievements in recent years. An important contemporary designer featured is Yeohlee Teng, who has been an under-recognized early pioneer of sustainability and circularity, and has always designed, developed, and produced her entire collection in New York City.
The collection and structure of the exhibition also aims to illuminate the collaboration that is art the heart of fashion design and craft. While there may be one name on the label, many hands go into designing and creating a garment – the majority of which, throughout history, have been the hands of women.
Women Dressing Women is now on view at the Met’s Costume Institute, and runs through March 3rd, 2024.
