Museums Are Leading the Fashion?! - ICOMnetwork.icom.museum/fileadmin/user_upload/minisites/icee/PDF/2016... · Museums Are Leading the Fashion?! ... Giorgio Armani Exhibition . 2004

Dr. Feng-Ying Ken & Dr. Shin-Chieh Tzeng Graduate Institute of Conservation of Cultural Relics and Museology,

Tainan National University of the Arts, Taiwan

Museums Are Leading the Fashion?! - Investigation into the New Style of Contemporary

Museum Exhibitions

What kind of issues should museums emphasize?

What type of contents should contemporary museums exhibit?

Museum exhibitions vs. Fashion

Introduction: Museums, the cultural symbol of contemporary society

Fashion industry and museum exhibitions – a happy marriage?? Fashion exhibitions: breakthrough and innovation! Conclusions: Leading the fashion or following the

trend?

Research Framework

Museums are

the magnetic of cultural life

the primary purpose for visitors

the attracting power for the public

the symbol of modern society

responsible for educating the public


New challenges

decreasing resources increasing pressure of

retaining visitors earning income attracting more visitors



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Why fashion goes into museums?

museums still as the cultural symbol

the first choice for leisure or learning activities

supply with credibility and public trustst

Fashion exhibitions make museums fashionable.


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Conflicts of interests

use the opportunity to do placement marketing

encourage visitors to purchase their products a strategy of capitalism and commercialism


Before the 1990s

museums rarely exhibited fashion, except their own collections

regarded as the sacred & authoritative institutions to convey proper knowledge and aesthetics

Fashion industry and museum exhibitions -a happy marriage?

Since the 1990s

facing increasing competition rapid changing environment visitor-oriented moving from the elitism to populism to provide more visitor-friendly exhibitions


Since the 1990s

chance for fashion industry to form collaboration to promote brands and product to attract more visitors


The early stage

Frankfurt Museum of Modern Art – a model wearing new Chanel fashions in 1998 Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg – an exhibition of sketches of Wolfgang Joop with free samples of Joop! perfume and cosmetics in 1995


The Superstar:

Giorgio Armani Exhibition designed by Robert Wilson organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

on an international tour to Bilbao, Berlin, London, Rome, Tokyo and Las Vegas


Giorgio Armani Exhibition at the Royal Academy in London 2004 an atmosphere of theater like stage exhibited hundreds of his design outfit for visitors to admire


Giorgio Armani Exhibition 2004 lighting and metal strings - image of luxurious ethos with music and projected screen - a more relaxing feeling costumes well presented


Giorgio Armani Exhibition 2004 For visitors 1. Visitors tended to feel like walking into a huge film setting with real clothes so close 2. Enhancing visitor’s understanding of how great a designer could be to create his own collections through different time and periods


Giorgio Armani Exhibition 2004 For museums 1. The effect is a mix of theatrical and exhibition skills wrapped in a high-end fashion surroundings 2. Curators and designers could benefit it learning new ideas and styles in shaping different exhibition outcomes


Giorgio Armani Exhibition 2004 For fashion industry 1. Gaining public attention 2. Promoting the brand 3. Raising awareness



The growth stage: 2000s

Vivienne Westwood Alexander McQueen Jean-Paul Gaultier Versace Christian Dior Issey Miyake

The Follower:

‘Vivienne Westwood: 36 Years in Fashion’ Exhibition organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on an international tour to Canberra, Taipei, Tokyo, Shanghai, Dusseldorf, Bangkok and San Francisco


‘Vivienne Westwood: 36 Years in Fashion’ Exhibition focusing on the relationship between Vivienne Westwood and museums exhibiting 150 costumes reaching 6 venues and across 4 continents not the only fashion exhibitions of hers


Question: Is this a real happy marriage?

Are museums the places to see fashion design or the temples for learning? If visitors want to know the latest fashion trend, why don’t they just visit the flagship shops instead? How much can museums control the contents and the presentations of their exhibitions?


Trendy Services in the museum

Fashion exhibitions are getting popular today Plenty of choices with unique themes ‘The Work of Issey Miyake’ at the National Art Centre in Tokyo ‘Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear’ at the V&A in London

Fashion exhibitions: breakthrough and innovation!

What can be extracted from these highly popular exhibitions?


A Case Study

‘Story of… Memories of Cartier Creations’ Exhibition curated by Tokujin Yoshioka (outside the museum) organized by the Tokyo National Museum

a collaboration with the Cartier


‘Story of… Memories of Cartier Creations’ Exhibition April, 2009 - to mark the 150th anniversary of amity and commerce of the two countries.


‘Story of… Memories of Cartier Creations’ Exhibition

A breakthrough for having the fashion exhibition at a tradition museum

- to adapt new skills and concepts - to incorporate new technology



walls and panels were painted black to emphasize the material of jewelry

long glass cases were proposed to create the transparent effects

Visitors would be surprised to see projected images on both sides



the curator arranged lighting and projected images to make visitors feel the sense of history and its

craftsmanship to feel the beauty of each exhibited object The atmosphere of old and modern help to shape a

intertwinning of time and space



Another room was painted white with a huge projected image on the ceiling

installed tall glass cabinets to highlight some jewelry to create a pure and precious value

Visitors walked into this room would be attracted to the image on the ceiling and associate it to the objects in the glass cases


‘Story of… Memories of Cartier Creations’ Exhibition The effect 1. encouraged curators to reflect on the visual effect in the exhibition space 2. It can be related to the popularity of installation in museums 3. It should be considered carefully, particularly in museums where the public come to see and learn


Museum curators should try to incorporate new ideas, subjects and technics into their exhibitions, in order to satisfy consumer’s needs.


Conclusions: Leading the fashion or following the trend?

Conclusion 1 Contemporary museums are following the trend of fashion at present - Reason 1: curators have fewer resources in-house - Reason 2: fashion industry has better supports

Conclusion 2 A collaboration could make a huge difference to create visitor-friendly exhibitions - Reason 1: curators are good at research and shaping the contents - Reason 2: fashion industry has the access to latest technology, ideas and financial supports; with better knowledge of what visitors want and need


With the assistance of fashion industry, museums are able to make exhibitions more relaxing, energetic, creative and engaging.


The 21st century is a century for experience, in which fashion exhibitions fit perfectly.

Museums should develop a new route to fight with the competitions from outside.



For museums - One solution is to bring in new issues and draw closer with the public - Another is to make exhibitions more popular and entertained.



Fashion exhibitions represent both a breakthrough and an innovation.

They will continue to be prosperous for the next decade and project new styles for future museums.



Thank you.

Email: [email protected] (Dr. Feng-Ying Ken)

[email protected] (Dr. Shin-Chieh Tzeng)

The authors are grateful for the funding and sponsorship of

the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan.

Documents

Museums Are Leading the Fashion?! - ICOMnetwork.icom.museum/fileadmin/user_upload/minisites/icee/PDF/2016... · Museums Are Leading the Fashion?! ... Giorgio Armani Exhibition . 2004