Folk Couture

One of my favorite museums in New York City is the American Folk Art Museum. The current exhibit is Folk Couture: Fashion and Folk Art. It is a wonderful show, comprised of garments inspired by the museum’s permanent collection of folk art, including quilts, textiles, paintings, photographs, drawings, and sculptures.  Thirteen fashion designers were asked to create a garment that would capture the essence of a folk art piece. On display is the finished garment alongside the inspirational folk art. Of course I had my favorites.

Among them was a dress by threeASFOUR, a group of three fashion designers, Gabi Asfour, Angela Donhauser and Adi Gil. threeASFOUR were drawn to the six sided star in the Friendship Star Quilt made by Elizabeth Hooton Savery and others in 1844. The dress is made from layers of laser cut patent leather with cut outs in the shape of three religious symbols; the Jewish, Islamic and Christian stars.

Fabio Costa’s ensemble, Agnus Dame was inspired by two art pieces; Sacred Heart of Jesus, a religious woodcarving of a bleeding heart surrounded by arrows, as well as Tree of Life Whitework Quilt, both folk artists are unknown.

Koos van den Akker made his garment from a colorful fabric, which he made by incorporating five different artworks. The gown is embellished with a layer of transparent sequins, which makes the whole piece shimmer.

Yeohlee Teng used four wood carved animals for this unique dress. Teng photographed the sculptures then printed the images onto Kraft paper.  The Kraft paper was sewn together in a circular manner to create the form of the dress.

If you are going to be in NYC, you might want to head over to Lincoln Square and check out the show. It runs through April 23, 2014 and the admission is free, however they recommend a donation.