It can be incredibly inspiring for fashion students to be able to admire in a museum linked with the institution where they are enrolled collections of refined and elegant garments. Students at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), a private, non-profit accredited university, will be able to do so at the newly-opened SCAD FASH, located within the university's main facility in Atlanta (1600 Peachtree Street).
In future visitors will have the opportunity to engage with garments created by the world's leading fashion houses as well as looks from SCAD's permanent collection, but, for the time being, the museum has launched an inaugural exhibition celebrating the house of the late Oscar de la Renta (on view through December 31, 2015).
The event was first premiered in February at the SCAD Museum of Art on the Savannah campus and could be considered as a view of de la Renta's art and career rather than a proper retrospective.
The garments and Haute Couture pieces featured go from the mid-1960s to the present day and include items de la Renta designed for his main muse - his wife Annette - gowns on loan from first lady Laura Bush, the velvet dress Hillary Clinton donned on her 1998 Vogue cover, and dresses worn by Taylor Swift and Oprah Winfrey, in addition to selected garments by Oscar de la Renta's new creative director Peter Copping.
The pieces on display tell a tale of luxury and elegance, they feature ornate details and intricate sequinned embroideries, include eye-catching graphic motifs or invite visitors to refocus their attention on ample silhouettes and wide volumes.
The exhibition also includes the SCAD alumni and students documentary "Ovation for Oscar", originally premiered at the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival.
Narrated by SCAD student and former Oscar de la Renta intern Sloane Mayberry, the short film is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the "Oscar de la Renta: His Legendary World of Style" exhibition at SCAD that was curated by André Leon Talley.
Born in Santo Domingo in 1932 Óscar Arístides de la Renta Fiallo studied art at The Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, Spain, and, soon after, started working as apprentice at Cristóbal Balenciaga.
In 1960 de la Renta became couture assistant of Antonio Canovas del Castillo de Rey at Lanvin in Paris where he gained further experience in the world of Haute Couture and where he remained until 1963, the year he moved to the States.
Mentored by Diana Vreeland, editor-in-chief of Vogue, de la Renta began designing haute couture gowns for Elizabeth Arden, joining Jane Derby in 1965.
When Derby retired, de la Renta took over, launching his own label. The designer showed his ready-to-wear collection in Paris for three seasons, in 1991 and 1992, and worked from 1992 to 2002 for Balmain's Haute Couture collections.
As the decades passed, his name became inextricably linked to Hollywood stars and red carpet events, but he also became one of the favourite designers of the social and political establishments. Last year, on 14th October 2014 – just a week before he died – de la Renta appointed British designer Peter Copping as his successor.
The current de la Renta exhibition will therefore prove intriguing for students interested in learning more about the history of the fashion house and in discovering the new developments under Copping in a dedicated space.
Complementing the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah (founded in 2002 and elegantly revamped in 2011), the 10,000-square-foot SCAD FASH, comprises indeed a public gallery space, a fashion conservation lab and a media library for educational films and digital presentations. The university and the new museum spaces will therefore give the opportunity to students to combine theory and practice in the same location.
"SCAD FASH celebrates fashion as a universal language and garments as vehicles of identity," stated SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace in an official press release. "This museum focuses on the past, present and future of fashion design, connecting conceptual to historical principles of dress, whether ceremonial, celebratory or casual, and welcomes visitors of all ages to engage with cutting-edge exhibitions, educationally enriching events, films and forums, guided by curricula for K-12 students and resources for graduate scholars."
Businessman and current chairman of Tom Ford International (and former president and CEO of the Gucci Group) Domenico De Sole, one of the founding donors to the SCAD Museum of Art stated, "SCAD FASH is another example of SCAD's commitment to fashion for both students and professionals alike. The museum demonstrates how this forward-thinking university continues to execute their vision to provide creative talent to this industry."
The Oscar de la Renta exhibition at SCAD FASH anticipates a retrospective that will be taking place next year at The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (27th February - 30th May 2016).
But future programming at SCAD FASH (overseen by Laurie Ann Farrell, executive director of SCAD museums and exhibitions) promise acclaimed exhibitions such as "i feel ya: SCAD + André 3000 Benjamin" and "Art x Fashion", an exploration of reciprocal influences between art and design, and a series of film screenings (under the "SCAD FASH Film Salon" moniker) to analyse in depth various iconic characters and the power of costumes. You can keep updated with further programmes and events also following SCAD FASH's Instagram (#scadfash), Twitter (@scadfash) and Facebook (SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion).
All images in this post courtesy of SCAD.
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