The Fabric of Cultures. Fashion, Identity, Globalization

EXHIBITION, The Fabric of Cultures. Fashion, Identity, Globalization, Godwin – Ternbach Museum, Queens College, CUNY. Co-curators, Eugenia Paulicelli, Amy Winter, Elizabeth Lowe (Spring 2006).

LACE Evening Gowns Aerial View
The exhibit displayed garments and textiles that represented aesthetics and techniques from around the world, selected from examples in the Godwin-Ternbach Museum at Queens College Costume Collection, and complemented by loans from private collections and international designers such as Antonio Marras, Mary Ping, Project Alabama, Lakis Gavalas.

Traditional garments and textiles of non-Western Cultures were shown along with modern examples from Western society and the exhibit explored the themes of the enrichment of fashion by different ethnic sources, the reciprocal relationship of fashion and culture, and the central role of clothing in our lives. Designed to highlight and embrace the rich multicultural composition of the borough of Queens, it revealed how fashion, based in the world of appearances, is an ideal vehicle for visual interpretation and examination of our world.

The aim of the project was threefold: to show the complexity in the production and consumption of fashion; to investigate the mechanisms of cultural production; and to examine the interaction between personal, national, and transnational identities. The Fabric of Cultures inquires into the interplay between tradition, modernity, and post-modernity. Societies and cultures are dynamic entities in constant flux. In the context of dress, this is manifest in style and choice of fabric. Since ancient times the body has been modified by dress to meet cultural and aesthetic needs, rendering it culturally visible. As fashions change, individual identity is expressed in selection of clothing that reflects culture, religion, social status, gender, income, and personal taste.

Please see the catalogue of the Exhibit edited by Amy Winter, Eugenia Paulicelli and Hazel Clark: The Fabric of Cultures, Fashion, Identity, Globalization. London: Routledge, 2009. (PDF)

Please view the Gallery of the Exhibition below:

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