Art Museums shouting for fashion

  Fashion Gallery as a forage cap interest in recent years. If his Alexander McQueen kept the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Savage Beauty Show in 2011, it broke all records for a fashion show in the history of the museum, visited by more than 650,000 people. Closer to home, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria had 152,000 people visit the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition last year, setting a national reference point for a regional gallery in the process.

It seems that the public fascination with what we wear - and was - shows no signs of slowing down. And that comes with its own problems and joys of the world from the gallery.

National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne has one of the largest fashion collections in the southern hemisphere, including Australian and international collections, what the latest clothes from the 18th And accessories from the 17th century Century through the current day. He has also textiles dating from the 6th Century.

Roger Leong, Curator of the fashion and textile industry NGV International, said the gallery has the most active fashion and textiles exhibition program in Australia, having performed 30 shows in the 11 years since the gallery opened in public after an extensive renovation.
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While Leong admits that it shows a great interest in fashion today, he said that what has been built for some time. "I've been in the business of the Museum 20-odd years now and I think that going on the popularity of fashion shows right in the 1980s and early 1990s," says Leong.

"The leaders were really the Victoria & Albert Museum (London) and the Metropolitan Museum. The big difference I found today that the media is no longer lit at fashion shows that maybe they were. I think this is the part because the media glow for fashion in general fashion so permeates many levels of popular culture and the media. - And the fame thing and -., it's everywhere "

Mode can be anywhere, but the acquisition of these blocks for a collection is always difficult. Paola Di Trocchio, Assistant Curator of the international textile and fashion CNG, introduces a number of new players in the field of the gallery / museum to help raise prices and reduce the availability of vintage designs. Called the Fashion Museum in Santiago, the billionaire collector Chilean Jorge Yarur in 2007 to life, Museo del Costume in Madrid in 2004 and Mude Design and Fashion Museum of Lisbon, which are open reopened in 2009 after renovation active player in this increasingly competitive field.

Tue Trocchio added: "Sometimes we have to design houses themselves, save their own archives to compete."

For example, Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation is strong buys vintage Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture, the Balenciaga Museum in Spain is doing the same for parts of Cristobal Balenciaga, as the house of Christian Dior for their own archives.

Leong said that the Algerian-French designer Azzedine Alaia was "intense competition" for part of the creative Madeleine Vionnet, the collector Daphne Guinness is was known that large quantities of products to buy, including all the collection of the late editor of the British fashion Isabella Blow.

"The other important thing that happened in vogue in the last 10 years, the highest popularity in vintage fashion," says Leong. "Now we are in competition with Hollywood stars at some of the best Valentino and Versace or Yves Saint Laurent -., The real show stopper, we also like Hollywood stars"

Given the increase in prices in parts of vintage collectible designers of note, and the fact that the majority of the galleries and museums of the Australian states, have to do their acquisition financing need to develop collections in the resources and philanthropic donations, or on the generosity of dependent legacies to feed their ever-hungry collections and continue to create world-class exhibitions.

Italian heritage jewelry house Bulgari has become such a benefactor CNG announcement last month Financing Program Bulgari, specially designed to finance the purchase of products for the international collection, with an emphasis on the years 1950 to 1990.

"It's great for the collection is that there is a good amount of money Bulgari gave us and promised to increase for us in the next two to three years, and that will have a huge impact the collection, because if we wisely buy, we can get some really important parts, "says Leong.

"The only kind of condition was that the parts they need to be glamorous. - And we have no problem with it"

Julie Ann Morrison, CEO of Bulgari Australia and the UK, said: "The NGV would be important examples of the best designers who can be glamorous acquire, but also has important because they represent the best examples of a particular style or period.

"Our philosophy is to leave the choice of acquisitions CNG conservation expertise and we are with the pieces they have learned so far, very satisfied."

The new funding has pieces created with the acquisition of key competences by a trio of French designers to life: a cream jacket and dress by circular Pierre Cardin in 1969, a cotton print dress by Claude Montana in 1980, and a red sponge section dress by French designer Thierry Mugler in 1981.

Bulgari began his interest in acquisitions of CNG when he helped the gallery to buy a velvet cloak around 1920 by the Italian designer Mariano Fortuny, which was acquired in 2011.

The date of a garment is not necessarily what determines its value. For example, the recent purchase of CNG a Chanel evening dress 1924 with beads. Although Leong any conclusions on the purchase price, he said he "was very reasonable for what it is."

Conversely, the famous "Model T Ford" dress of the year 1926, to support the concept of the little black dress would be introduced throughout the day, be much more expensive when it came on the market. "The thing with the Model T Ford Chanel dress is that it was rather one days dress, and they are the ones that people wore to death. They are as rare as hen teeth. If a they came to the auction would not be surprised when he went to be not less than $ 100,000. "

Tue Trocchio added: "And you would compete with the world for them."

The basic principle of the team is to add a piece to the NGV collection in the election that "there by designers who have made a difference, must be designed," says Leong. "And we hope that we will choose this quintessence of this designer par excellence began a change at some point in time."

So what is Leong hopes for the collection with the help of funding Bulgari add, since the timing and need for glamor?

First up, a colorful 1970s jersey dress by French designer Madame Grès. "Even if it worked since the 1930s, she had this sudden resurgence in the 1970s when they were still at the top of his game at the age of 70 or 80 years, and suddenly people like Jerry Hall and Marie Helvin were modelize clothing and incredibly sexy look.

"And in America, we are very keen to get something (1970 fashion brand) Halston, because of how much you can get glamorous Halston?"