We're excited to introduce you to the FIDM Museum Fashion Council, a group of dedicated volunteers committed to supporting the FIDM Museum. They're a dynamic group with tremendous enthusiasm and energy. Of course, they're all passionate about fashion and fashion history too. We are extremely fortunate to have their support for a variety of programs, including exhibitions, educational programming, and the acquisition of new and important objects for the FIDM Museum Collections. Fashion Council is also working on an exciting new outreach program that will bring fashion history to students throughout Southern California.
The inaugural Fashion Council event was held in late February. Members and friends of Fashion Council met at FIDM's Orange County campus before embarking on a chartered bus for the ride to FIDM's Los Angeles campus, where the FIDM Museum is located. On arriving at the FIDM Museum, Fashion Council enjoyed an illustrated presentation on the past, present and future of the FIDM Museum. Here's a picture of Kevin Jones, FIDM Museum curator, discussing our recent FABULOUS! exhibition. The high-top sneakers on-screen behind Kevin are a pair of limited edition Adidas. They were designed in 1991 as a tribute to NBA star Dikembe Mutombo.
A highlight of the event was a behind-the-scenes tour of our object storage facility. On a normal day, most objects are out of view, safely stowed inside archival boxes or hanging on padded hangers. In honor of the Fashion Council's visit, we made sure a few collection highlights were available for close viewing. In the picture below, members of Fashion Council take a look at composer Johann Hummel's court suit. Dating from 1800-10, this lavish suit, made from uncut voided velvet with gold, silver, rhinestone, and sequin decoration, was commissioned by Hummel for an important performance.
Following their peek inside storage, Fashion Council headed downstairs to the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition. Kevin led them through the exhibit, including a stop in the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection gallery. The Larson gallery currently features garments with a royal provenance. As Fashion Council is currently engaged in helping us raise funds for the acquisition of this stellar collection, it was an important stop on the tour. Extra points to readers who can guess which English monarch wore the black dress seen in this photo!
It was a pleasure welcoming Fashion Council and friends to the FIDM Museum. We look forward to welcoming them back again soon for another fun and educational event. Check our website and this blog for updates on upcoming Fashion Council programs.
Interested in learning more about Fashion Council? Contact Fashion Council president Mima Ransom at mransom@fidmmuseum.org.
Guess about the black dress – Queen Victoria? She was bereft at the loss of Albert after about 21 years of marriage & 9 children. If it was Q. Victoria, how did FIDM get the dress?
Bingo!
This dress belonged to Queen Victoria and was worn in 1897, the year of her Diamond Jubilee (the celebration of her 60 years as reigning monarch). She was EXTREMELY bereft after her husband Albert died, and wore black the rest of her life.
This dress is part of the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, which the FIDM Museum is in the process of acquiring. Helen Larson was a California-based collector of historic dress and she had a specific interest in garments with a royal provenance. As we work towards the acquisition of the collection, we are displaying selected garments from the Larson collection on short rotations at the FIDM Museum. This dress is currently on display.
There are a few other garments from Queen Victoria’s wardrobe in the United States, including this dress at the Met: http://bit.ly/yvwEME.