As you walk into the FIDM Museum's Outstanding Art of Television Costume Design exhibition, you are greeted with the words "Creating the Character." This year's exhibition is all about process: what inspires costume designers? How do they bring characters to life one episode at a time? What tools do they use to convey a program's comedy, romance, fantasy, drama, or historical period? With so many platforms to view television shows – Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Netflix in addition to traditional network channels – what new challenges face today's costume designers?
This is the 10th anniversary of the Outstanding Art of Television Costume Design exhibition, and we are honored to celebrate the talented designers that provide the visual context of our favorite characters. Open now until October 15, this year's exhibition features work from Lou Eyrich (American Horror Story, Scream Queens), Ruth Carter (Roots), Michele Clapton (Game of Thrones), and Paolo Nieddu (Empire), just to name a few! There are a total of 23 shows represented in the exhibition, ranging from historical drama to comedic musical.
Stay tuned for another post with more details about the second exhibition that opened August 2, ManMode: Dressing the Male Ego, featuring three hundred years of menswear from the FIDM Museum Permanent Collection.
Scroll down to see pictures from last weekend's Opening Night Party, where the Television Academy honored Emmy-nominated designers, and guests had their first look at the magnificent costumes on display!
Rachel Sage Kunin (FIDM Alumna and Costume Designer, Jane the Virgin)
Sue Bub, Television Academy Board of Governors, Lou Eyrich (Emmy-award-winning Costume Designer, American Horror Story: Hotel and Scream Queens) and Helen Huang (Emmy-award-nominated Assistant Costume Designer, American Horror Story: Hotel)
American Horror Story: Hotel, Costume Design by Lou Eyrich
Melina Root (Costume Designer, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and Rachel Bloom (Star/Co-Creator/Executive Producer, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
Outlander, Costume Design by Emmy-award-nominated Terry Dresbach
Ruth E. Carter (Emmy-award-nominated Costume Designer, Roots) and Eulyn C. Hufkie (Costume Designer, The Walking Dead)
Roots, Costume Design by Ruth E. Carter
Vinyl, Costume Design by Mark Bridges (Pilot)
Game of Thrones, Costume Design by Michele Clapton
Audrey Fisher (Costume Designer, Man in the High Castle)
Agent Carter, Costume Design by FIDM Alumna Gigi Ottobre-Melton
Black-ish, Costume Design by Michelle Cole
Costume Designers Guild President Salvador Perez, FIDM Museum Director Barbara Bundy, and Emmy-award-winning Costume Designer Marie Schley (Transparent)
Veep, Costume Design by Kathleen Felix Hager
Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, Costume Design by Sarah Arthur
Daniel Lawson (Emmy-award-nominated Costume Designer, The Good Wife)
Shoes featured in Scream Queens, Costume Design by Lou Eyrich
Entrance to the exhibition – open to the public until October 15!
So excited to see it this coming weekend. Thank you for continuing to produce these exhibits and making this level of costume design accessible to everyone who loves great work by amazing designers.
Thank you Beth – it’s our pleasure to showcase these examples of great design!
I’ll have to make it a point to visit and see this amazing collection! Curious if you have exhibited costumes from TV shows of the sixties? Would love to see some of those.
Hi Sandy – we hope you can make it to the Museum! We have only shown current television shows in the exhibition, but it would be great to see some vintage costumes too!