Modern Love: Fashion Visionaries from the FIDM Museum LA opens this weekend at the Bendigo Art Gallery! For the past three weeks, Curator Kevin Jones, Associate Curator Christina Johnson, and Assistant Registrar Dani Killam have been working with Bendigo Art Gallery's staff to get the mannequins dressed and installed in their cases. Below is a wonderful birds-eye view of the installation in progress. Earlier this week, we received word that the installation is over and done. Modern Love is now ready for the opening festivities on Saturday, October 26!
Modern Love installation in progress. Image courtesy of Bendigo Art Gallery.
In preparation for Modern Love, we test-dressed each ensemble featured in the exhibition. Before packing these objects into boxes and crates for shipment to Australia, each ensemble was dressed on its mannequin, any necessary padding was created, and the most flattering accessories selected. Once packing began, each object was carefully packaged to ensure its safe arrival in Bendigo. This recent blog post describes the elaborate, fascinating process of packing Alexander McQueen's Peacock dress in a custom crate. As you can see in the image below, Lady McQueen arrived safely.
Modern Love installation in progress. Image courtesy of Bendigo Art Gallery.
On arrival in Bendigo, everything was unpacked with care. This brief video from Bendigo Weekly showcases the slow, thoughtful process of unpacking the garment filled boxes. At the beginning, Kevin and Dani carefully unpack a Thom Browne suit. Note the individual fabric ties holding the garments in place. Kevin and Dani carefully save the interior padding, which will be used to re-pack the suit when Modern Love closes. Towards the end of the video, Kevin, Christina, and Dani place Monique Lhuillier's 2006 "Camelot" wedding gown on its mannequin.
During the installation, area bloggers were offered the opportunity to preview Modern Love. The Perfect Nose wrote two posts about her visit. Find part 1 here and part two here. Theloupe.org also previewed Modern Love; find his post here. These posts feature great images, including unique views of some garments. They're a must for anyone interested in a sneak peek at Modern Love.
This is awesome. I can’t wait for the next visit, we’ve got a meetup there in November with bloggers from across Australia (and a blogger flying in from Japan). We’re all really excited about it.
Also, thanks for the links-much appreciated.