June 2–November 14, 2015
The Museum at FIT
The Museum at FIT presents Global Fashion Capitals, an exhibition that examines the rise of fashion cities around the world, including London, Milan, New York, and Paris. The exhibition also explores the factors that enable emerging cities, such as Seoul, Shanghai, Berlin, Istanbul, Johannesburg, São Paulo, Mumbai, and Stockholm, to rise to global prominence.
As The New York Times noted in a 2008 article titled “The Sun Never Sets on the Runway,” at any given moment, somewhere in the world, a city is hosting a fashion week event. Fashion weeks are indeed continuing to multiply as emerging cities realize the economic value of the fashion industry, as well as the value of fashion as a source of “soft power” to communicate identity and spread cultural influence throughout the world. The exhibition makes the case that multiple factors—from economic conditions to government support to press interest—combine to help create a globally relevant fashion city.
More than 70 garments and accessories by designers from these cities are on display in Global Fashion Capitals. Ranging from a circa 1890 Charles Frederick Worth couture cape to a spring 2015 beaded fringe dress by Lagos designer Lisa Folawiyo, all are from the museum’s permanent collection, and many of the designers have never before been featured in an American museum.
The Global Fashion Capitals exhibition opens with a digital style map, featuring the most current global fashion trends. Street style and runway images from 20 fashion capitals show an identity unique to each city. The exhibition then continues thematically by city, beginning with the established fashion capitals of Paris, New York, Milan, and London, followed by the emerging cities.
