The Mint Museum Uptown will unveil a special exhibition on Saturday, Dec. 10. Called “Fashion Reimagined: Themes and Variations, 1760-NOW,” the installation celebrates 50 years since the founding of its fashion collection by what is now the Mint Museum Auxillary.
Annie Carlano, senior curator for craft, design and fashion at Mint Museum, and curator, said she hopes people leave this exhibition with knowledge and a greater sense of understanding.
“I want people to feel a sense of awe in how incredibly beautiful and creative these design solutions are to decorating the body,” she said.
Fashion Reimagined will feature 50 fashion ensembles chosen out of thousands from the museum’s collection and follow three themes: Minimalism, Pattern and Decoration and The Body Reimagined.
“They’re going to experience these three different strains of historicism that permeate fashion history,” Carlano said. “They should feel what that is, as well as look and see all these details and think about what these dresses are saying about the time that they were made.”
Tae Smith is the fashion and textile conservator behind this exhibition and hopes visitors will enjoy the finer details.
Courtesy the Mint Museum
“There’s so much craftsmanship that has gone into these garments and just, you know, the embroidery, the hand sewing,” Smith said. “You can just look at a garment to stand in front of the garment for a half hour or an hour and just look at the construction of it.”
Smith stated that dressing the mannequins requires consideration of many factors, including how it will appear from various angles and how the garments are meant to be worn.
Exhibition highlights include a rare 1828 wedding ensemble by Italian fashion designer Maria Monaci Gallenga, gowns by Madame Gres and Oscar de la Renta and both men’s and women’s fashion from 20th-century innovators like Coco Chanel and Giorgio Armani.
One of Carlano’s points of pride was acquiring the funds for a menswear ensemble by Nigerian American designer, humanitarian and filmmaker Walé Oyéjidé, who uses creative storytelling to combat bias. His designs have been featured in Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther,” displayed in museums around the world, such as in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands — and now Charlotte.
Courtesy the Mint Museum
“It’s almost a social experiment to use beauty as a weapon against bias,” Oyéjidé said. “By presenting the most beautiful image possible, we then are forced to kind of discard initial biases we may hold towards the subject and ask what the human story is.”
Oyéjidé will present the North Carolina premiere of his documentary “After Migration: Calabria” at the Mint Museum on Saturday, Dec. 10, as part of festivities celebrating the exhibition’s opening.
While much of the museum’s collection is focused on American and European fashions, Carlano says that they are making a more focused effort to acquire pieces that reflect more global expressions of contemporary fashion. Fashion Reimagined will include an outfit by Anamika Khanna (Indian fashion designer), making it the second U.S. museum to feature such an ensemble.
“I think it will be a surprise for a lot of people, especially new to Charlotte, how incredible our fashion collection is,” Carlano said. “It’s on par with most in the larger museums, and it deserves to be better known.”
Carlano claims that an 1884 L.P. Hollander and Company wedding dress will be one of the most popular. It includes both a skirt and bodice made of silk or satin, and features faux pearls and lace details.
“I hope people look carefully and everything because again, out of thousands of objects, these 50 were selected,” she said. “So they are all extremely interesting in a variety of ways.”
Courtesy the Mint Museum
The exhibition will include interactive elements as well as the outfits. While visitors will not actually be trying on clothes, “Shape Shifters” is a dressing room with magnetic forms on the mirror that will allow them to envision themselves in garments from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The exhibition will also be accompanied by an illustrated catalog with contributions from Carlano; Lauren D. Whitley, independent scholar and curator; and Ellen C. Walker Show, the museum’s director of library and archives; and fashion designer Anna Sui.
Carlano said that there will be videos showing how women and men dressed during the 18th century. There will be space for families to use and books about fashion to help them read.
“I think it’s a magical installation. I’m so proud of the Mint, the incredible Mint staff that make all this happen, as well as consultants,” Carlano said.
Information on Exhibitions:
From December 10 to July 2, 2023 at the Mint Museum Uptown, the Levine Center for the Arts at 500 S. Tryon Street, “Fashion Revisited: Themes & Variations 1760-NOW”, the exhibition will be open.
For members, and for children aged 4 to 4, the exhibition costs $15. $10 for seniors and students 65 years or older. $6 is for children ages 5 through 17.
On Dec. 10, the Mint Museum will be open all day for Mint Fashion Day Celebration. Other events will include a panel discussion about Fashion Reimagined and a screening of Oyéjidé’s documentary “After Migration: Calabria.” More information Here.