Remaking Fashion

John Galliano for Christian Dior, Dress model no. 39 2000, spring–summer designed,
2003 made, The tramp collection, NGV

In a couple of weeks I am heading to Melbourne for Meredith Festival and as much as I am looking forward to Meredith, which is a lot. I am also looking forward to staying with my sister in her new pad, shopping, hanging out and spending all my tax return, which I suspect will be a pittance. Since I am a bit of a nerd I am researching a few things that I want to do and included is the Remaking Fashion exhibition at the NGV. I only found out about this exhibition today, but after reading the outline/summary/low-down of it, I am super excited. It's also free, which fits into my almost non-existent budget perfectly. The list of designers whose work is included almost made me squeal with excitement: Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons, Maison Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, Yohji Yamamoto, Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, Nicholas Ghesquiére for Balenciaga and John Galliano for Christian Dior, as well as Pierre Cardin toiles from the 1960s. Sounds amazing! The NGV collects a lot of fashion pieces so it has an extensive collection to draw from.

Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, Top, skirt, overskirt, leggings and shoes, hat and bra, 1982–83 autumn–winter, Nostalgia of mud collection, NGV

Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, Dress and Necklace 2008 spring–summer, NGV

The idea behind the exhibition is to look at the construction process behind the garment, and how these functional elements have now become part of the overall aesthetic of the clothing. Items such as zippers, studs and boning (hehe, boning) are no longer just functional components, but are often used as purely decorative elements. The focus of this exhibition is all part of the deconstructive realm that is particularly characteristic of some modern designers and an element of fashion which appears to be gaining increasing popularity in mainstream fashion. This can be seen in the recent collaborations of Comme des Garçons with H&M, and Christopher Kane collaborating with Topshop in the UK. I have a very limited knowledge about fashion so hopefully this exhibition will give me a bit more. Fingers crossed it's as rad as it sounds!

All photos and info from the NGV website