Have you visited our latest History Gallery exhibition Acquiring Beauty: FIDM Museum Fashion Council, Est. 2011? This unique show, on view through July 7, 2018, celebrates the accomplishments of the FIDM Museum Fashion Council, the support group that has enabled the Museum to acquire the most extraordinary pieces. From a 1960s Apple Boutique suit to a royal court bodice, the exhibition showcases the most rare and wonderful objects – all made possible by the FIDM Museum Fashion Council! Below, Christina Johnson, who co-curated the exhibition with Kevin Jones, tells us more about what went into selecting these stunning pieces from the Museum’s Permanent Collection.

Associate Curator Christina Johnson and Curator Kevin Jones with Fashion Council members Donald Damask and Joan Beer Damask, donors of the rare Elsa Schiaparelli & Salvador Dalí designed Telephone Compact from 1935.

Can you tell us a few memories you have about the objects on display? 

A wonderful dealer whom we work with posted this 1981 lamé Zandra Rhodes evening ensemble online. I was at home one night (being a curator isn’t a typical 9-5 job!), saw it, and freaked out— I’d always wanted one of her “Modern Renaissance” looks for the collection. I texted Curator Kevin Jones, and he called me back with the go-ahead to contact the dealer and secure it. Our Fashion Council then underwrote the ensemble through a Wine Dinner.  It’s so dramatic, and was worn by the original owner to the Dallas Opera. I felt proud to have been the one to ensure this daring design is preserved here at the FIDM Museum.

Of course, the Alexander McQueen “Peacock” dress dating from Fall-Winter 2008-09 holds special memories for Kevin and me; it was also the first major fundraising project Fashion Council embarked on. We commissioned the piece in 2010 and it was one of the last of the founding designer’s creations to be made. When Kevin contacted the house to inquire about ordering it, they tried to steer him towards another design, because this one was extremely complicated to make. But of course, he wasn’t swayed! The black lace began as a wide rectangular piece that was cut apart feather by feather, numbered, charted, and then hand-sewn back together to create an overlay that nips at the waist and expands over the skirt.  Hundreds of yards of tea-dyed tulle were required for the underskirt (at one point, the design house called to let us know they were searching for it all over Europe and having a difficult time finding enough!).

The dress was created on a 6’3” mannequin (with arms mimicking the model’s runway stance) and has never been taken off—it was even shipped to us on her (yes, it was a huge crate!). We waited with bated breath for an on-time delivery for our Fall 2011 exhibition, Fabulous! Ten Years of FIDM Museum Acquisitions, 2000-2010. The house explained to us they were deluged with work and assured us it would make it safely to Los Angeles a few days before our exhibition opening party. Little did we know the hold up was due to a wedding gown commission that had cut in line of our order—they were furiously working on Miss Catherine Middleton’s gown for her April 2011 nuptials to a certain famous English prince! But of course, they couldn’t tell us that. We were thrilled when the gown arrived on time and it exceeded our expectations up-close. Thanks to our Fashion Council, Los Angeles is now home to one of McQueen’s most beautiful designs ever created.

What motivated you to curate this exhibition?

Fashion Council (as led by our dynamo Founding Chair, Mima Ransom) has been a driving force behind the growing significance of the FIDM Museum collection since 2011, when the group was founded. Members have organized fundraising events and personally underwritten, or “Adopted,” many treasures that Kevin and I have presented to them. It was our intent that Acquiring Beauty be a heartfelt “Thank You” to this amazing support group and highlight pieces that would not be available to our students and community members without them.

Evening Gown
Gustave Beer, Paris France, c. 1912-13
Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection
FIDM Museum Purchase: Funds raised by the FIDM Museum Fashion Council, 2011-2015 in honor of Mima Ransom

Is there a rare object in the exhibition that is seldom displayed? Why is this a ‘can’t miss’ piece? 

Everyone needs to come see the metallic crocheted evening ensemble by Kostio Warkoffska, known professionally as Kostio de War, a Russian designer who opened a salon in Paris in 1936. It’s a wonderful design—a chic blazer and evening gown with attached faux necklace and scalloped skirt hem, but it’s non-woven, so sadly can’t be displayed for extended periods of time because it stretches. Warkoffska is an under-researched designer, although her pieces appear over and over again in the society pages of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar during the mid-to-late 1930s.

Without Fashion Council, there would definitely be less beauty at the FIDM Museum! We depend on the group to fully realize our Mission Statement—to collect, preserve and interpret objects with outstanding design merit. Fashion Council members plan educational fundraising events focused on the Museum’s collections at our Los Angeles and Orange County campuses throughout the year. We meet once a month at the OC campus and welcome new members.

Boots (left)
Smaltz Goodwin Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, c. 1900
FIDM Museum Purchase: Funds raised by the FIDM Museum Fashion Council, 2017

Boots (right
Michael Arnold, Marienbad, Germany, c. 1900
FIDM Museum Purchase: Funds raised by the FIDM Museum Fashion Council, 2016

How can we get involved with Fashion Council? 

For more information on how to get involved, please visit our website; you can also contact Fashion Council Chair Mima Ransom at mransom@fidmmuseum.org or Curator Kevin Jones at kjones@fidmmuseum.org. We encourage you to join us!

Court Suit
Great Britain, c. 1765
Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection
FIDM Museum Purchase: Funds generously donated by Joan Beer Damask & Donald Damask, and Ken Weber & Greg Kelly of “Vintage Martini”