September 17-December 12, 2015 and January 19-April 30, 2016

Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta were some of the premiere designers of the latter part of the twentieth century. The Ohio State Historic Costume & Textiles Collection presents the exhibition, American Aesthetics, featuring the work of these three designers in an exhibit running September 17-December 12, 2015 and then re-opening January 19-April 30, 2016. These three men dominated the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, helping to create an American aesthetic in fashion design.

Geoffrey Beene was born in Haynesville, LA in 1927 and moved to New York City to study fashion at the Traphagen School of Fashion after dropping out of Tulane in 1946. His first collection was featured on the cover of Vogue in September of 1963. Beene won his first of eight Coty Fashion Critics’ Awards in 1964. He is considered one of fashion’s ultimate modernists. Beene initially received success for his popular unfitted sheath dress of the 1960s, but was later knows for his innovative minimalist design in body-revealing soft draping.

Bill Blass was born in 1922 in Fort Wayne, IN and attended the Parsons School of Design in 1939. After being drafted in the Army in World War II, he returned to the U.S. and began working for Maurice Rentner. Blass won the Coty Award in 1961 and 1963 while working for Rentner and later won again in 1970 under his own label. Blass also designed menswear starting in 1967 and won three Coty awards for his menswear as well. Blass is known for impeccable tailoring, luxurious fabrics and a sporty, sophisticated yet simple and classic aesthetic.

Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932 and studied both there and in Madrid, Spain. He worked for Balenciaga in Madrid, followed by Lanvin/Castillo in Paris. Later in his career, he worked for (1993-2002) Balmain. De la Renta worked in New York for Elizabeth Arden for two years before working for Jane Derby. When she died in 1965, Oscar took over the label. He won the Coty Award in 1967, 1968 and 1973, and is known for a dramatic sense of color and embellishment.

Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta were part of the “battle” between French and American designers featured in Deborah Riley Draper’s documentary, Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution. We are having a screening of the film on March 19, 2016 at 2pm. Contact us for more information.

 

September 17 – December 13, 2014 and January 22 – May 9, 2015

Please contact us if you have questions about our exhibitions and programs

January 22, – June 28, 2014

View images from this exhibition.
This is an exhibition showcasing a grant project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The grant helped support the digital photography of artifacts that could be used to teach history in accordance with Ohio’s curriculum for grades 8-12, and offer workshops to teachers to provide them with information and resources to create lesson plans using the digital images. The exhibition will feature five history lesson areas: Early American Republic 1770s-1820, Civil War, turn of the century consumerism, the Great Depression and WWII and 1960-70s innovation. Wireless access to the museum’s Fashion2fiber website will be available in the gallery via ipads and personal devices to retrieve information regarding artifacts not included in the exhibition due to space.  http://fashion2fiber.osu.edu

The grant-funded workshops which accompanied this exhibit invited teachers to examine five main areas of historical inquiry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 5 – December 7, 2012

View images from this exhibition.

The Columbus Fashion Story, explores the history of fashion as it relates to Columbus’ bicentennial history and its fashion industries. Two of retail fashion’s industry giants had their beginnings in Columbus, Ohio–Federated Department Stores in 1851 as S. Lazarus, and Limited Brands Inc. in 1963 as The Limited store in the Kingsdale shopping center. Both began modestly and eventually gained nation-wide recognition.

[Read more…]

Celebrating 100 Years of Girl Scouting, 1912–2012

March 9 – June 1, 2012

What do American fashion designers Bill Blass, Halston and Mainbocher have in common with the Girl Scouts of America? Their uniforms of course! While on first appearance one might not consider a uniform to be a garment that makes a fashion statement, Girl Scout uniforms do reflect historical American fashion trends. Not only do the uniforms reflect fashion throughout their 100 year history, the Girl Scouts organization actively partnered with leading names in the fashion industry to design and create their uniforms. This exhibition showcases these partnerships.

[Read more…]