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How do you properly tell the story of a city—any city—but especially New York, a 320-square-mile stretch of stories with layers and distinct attitude? Make it an ode to clothes.
“A Matter of Style,” a pop-up fashion museum opening September 9, is an exploration of New York’s sartorial heritage, framed through the vast photo archives of Fairchild Media Group, whose portfolio includes the style watcher strong Everyday women’s clothing. (WWD is owned by Penske Media Corporation, the same parent company as ARTnews.) The museum, displayed at AG Studios in Manhattan, will present exclusive illustrations, vintage fashion, immersive experiences and photography in conjunction with New York Fashion Week.
Fairchild, founded by John Fairchild in 1910, owns one of the most important archives of fashion photography in the media. It includes candids of New York’s leading figures alongside images of ordinary people whose daily dramas unfold out of the spotlight.
Here’s Jackie Kennedy, slipping out of her regular lunch spot La Grenouille. Downtown celebrities like Andy Warhol and Patti Smith appeared in its pages. Eras in American history unfold before the photographer’s lens: hard bottoms synonymous with the nuclear family; beaded, fringed hip height; and Black Panther-era power uniform. “Style is a language and reflects history just like any other kind of visual medium,” writer and image activist Michaela Angela Davis once said. WWD.
“A Matter of Style” comes at a fruitful time for fashion exhibitions. Perhaps because of the enduring popularity of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, clothing has entered the art establishment—not always a smooth process—where its historical weight is considered. Right now, a survey of the work of the late artist and designer Virgil Abloh is underway at the Brooklyn Museum. And the Costume Institute’s last major outing also focused on American fashion, albeit with a greater emphasis on its relationship with European haute couture.
The specific focus of the Fairchild Museum in New York is a nice diversion. It should offer insight into how the personal and political intersect in our clothing.
To learn more about the show, ARTnews spoke by phone with its curator, visual culture historian, archivist and design educator Tonya Blazio-Licorish. A condensed version of the conversation follows below.
Can you talk a little about your role as an archivist?
My work here revolves around archival content for all Fairchild brands. I came to PMC as a historian of visual culture. And so I use my background in fashion history to bring an element of storytelling to the way I look at the Fairchild archive, which is just an incredible amount of information. Indeed, this is a well-deserved moment for Fairchild, who has been there to capture exactly what fashion has been saying for decades. It celebrates its 112th anniversary this year. It captures the history of fashion, which includes designers, runways, celebrities, music, art – no part of our culture is untouched. This show will focus specifically on the history of fashion in New York City.
And how did you settle on a story to tell about New York?
I focused on the people, places and things that made it a global fashion city, but also made it unlike any other others the city of fashion. It’s about creating a context: what was happening at that moment, disguised in what New Yorkers were wearing. I mean, just think about denim—consider the effect of that photo of James Dean in jeans and a white T-shirt. You are instantly transported to that moment in time.
And New York – America, really – evolved differently from European capitals; her fashion was more democratic. Jeans and other designs reflected America’s attempt to form its cultural heyday. Think ’60s youth rock, ’70s Black Panther uniforms. Every generation tried to say something.
What do you think WWD stand out from similar fashion publications?
The exhibition focuses on how WWD it was capturing her, how she was intimate with the landscape. John Fairchild was looking at fashion as a conversation, how its advances could predict the trajectory of the zeitgeist. Early on, WWD would do a street style shoot in and around the city – it was called “They’re Dressed Up” and would be featured weekly in the publication. New York in general was one of the first fashion capitals to pay more attention not only to what the models were wearing, but to everything, perhaps because there have always been so many photographers here. “The Ladies Who Lunch” is another trademark of the magazine—it was devoted to the lives of socialites. In a way, this was all an early form of social media.
As a visual historian, what do you think of the “art is fashion” debate?
The understanding of fashion as an art form has changed. Fashion is a cultural memory in which we live; it makes sense for it to open in a very critical space. Fashion it’s art – there are levels, there are processes. It has inspiration, it tells a story. The person carving it can speak quietly or very, very loudly. And to go back to the idea that American fashion is democratic, so is art. Art and fashion at a time are these things that can seem unattainable or unattainable. But it is never like that.
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