BN Weekend Style Guide: Fashion Exhibitions

By Alexandra Taylor

While spending your weekend brunching with friends, shopping for holiday finds, and exploring the festivities throughout New York City, take a few hours to visit one of the several inspiring fashion exhibitions in the city. From a glimpse into the covet-worthy collection of a fashion muse to a retrospective of a leading fashion magazine’s editorial spreads, these two exhibits are not to be missed.

Courtesy Museum at FIT

An exhibition worth your visit, The Daphne Guinness exhibition at The Museum at FIT, highlights the fashion icon and her rare personal style. As a fashion muse and collector of couture, Guinness sheds light on the importance of the art of fashion and supports the work of ingenious young designers. Guinness states, “We need better things, not more. We should not pollute the world with meaningless, unused things when we can make and support things of rare and precious beauty.” Her collection is a direct reflection of her expertise on the artistry of garment design and the admiration for the beauty of fashion and the expression of dress. With six sections depicting each aspect of Daphne Guinness’s style, the exhibition showcases her diverse aesthetic. From a display of dandyism and Guinness’s passion for menswear to exoticism showcasing pieces that exude drama, each garment is as beautifully crafted as the next. Visit the Museum at FIT for the Daphne Guinness exhibit until January 7, 2012. Seventh Avenue at 27 Street.

Sølve Sundsbø, Freja Beha Erichsen (Harper’s Bazaar, March 2008), Peter Lindbergh, Kate Winslet (Harper’s Bazaar, August 2009)

Patrick Demarchelier, Carmen Kass (Harper’s Bazaar, November 2001), Tim Walker, Untitled (Harper’s Bazaar, October 2009)

Harper’s Bazaar: A Decade of Style, an exhibition at the International Center of Photography, is a retrospective of ten years of beautiful editorial work and influential fashion photography from Harper Bazaar’s Editor in Chief Glenda Bailey and Creative Director Stephan Gan. With thirty inspired photographs by world renowned photographers including Peter Lindbergh, Jean-Paul Goude, David Bailey, William Klein, Patrick Demarchelier, Karl Lagerfeld, and many more, the exhibition showcases the work of visionary editors, stylists, designers and photographers who have influenced the fashion industry to date. In addition to the stylized fashion editorials, on display are portraits of famous fashion designers including Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld. Bailey states, “Fashion reflects what’s going on in our world, and Bazaar makes pop culture fashionable. This exhibition is the culmination of a decade in a new world where every popular phenomenon comes with a fashion spin.” The impactful and inspiring work will equally impress photographers, aspiring designers, and fashion mavens. Visit the International Center of Photography and the Harper’s Bazaar: A Decade of Style, on view until January 8, 2012. http://www.icp.org