Workshops
Blum Gallery | Jean L. Druesedow, Director
The Kent State University Museum is fortunate to have in its collection exceptional examples of the formal sashes, the obi, worn with traditional Japanese kimono on special occasions. Of the many ways to tie these sashes, two are demonstrated in this exhibition: the otaiko, or drum, and the fukura-suzume, or swallow. It is the fukura-suzume that is worn with the furisode, the swinging sleeve kimono worn by young unmarried women.
Five of the examples in the gallery are unsewn. The textiles are just as they would come from the loom before being made into obi. They are generally four meters long and seventy centimeters wide. The elaborate patterns are sometimes hand-woven, and I have watched Japanese weavers in Kyoto use serrated nails on their fingers to comb the silk weft threads into place. The length of fabric is folded in half, stiffened with a lining, and sewn together. In the most formal obi both sides are patterned as both are visible in the finished knot. The pattern is carefully spaced to be seen to the best advantage in the various knots.
The process of tying the obi begins with a wide stiffened belt wrapped and fastened around the waist. Next the obi is placed at the waist and wrapped around the body: twice for the otaiko and once for the fukura-suzume. In demonstrations, two or three women work together to tie the obi as there is a certain amount of pulling and twisting involved while the person being dressed must stand quite still. The obi must be held in place after each fold or twist with cords or scarves. About halfway through the process a small pad is placed at the center back to give volume to the finished look once the ends of the obi are draped over the pad and secured in place. The following Web site shows a series of steps in tying the fukura-suzume:
www.hana-usagi.net/base/kituke-fukurasuzume1.htm
I am indebted to Dr. Yuko Kurahashi from the Kent State University School of Theatre and Dance for her patience and assistance as I practiced tying these obi.
We are pleased to present this exhibition in conjunction with the exhibition Kimono, art by Itchiku Kubota, to be held at the Canton Museum of Art from February 8 - April 26, 2009. Concurrent with the Canton exhibition, Kent State Stark will have an exhibition, Inspired by Japan: Resist Dye Techniques Traditional and Modern, featuring work by Rebecca Cross and students from the Kent State University School of Art, and including kimono from the Museum's collection. I encourage you to visit all three exhibitions.
Stager Gallery | Jean L. Druesedow, Director
James Galanos always made ready-to-wear, but he made it to the standard of the haute couture, the highest quality of dressmaking. In the history of the American fashion industry, no one has matched the accomplishments of his 46 year career.
From childhood Galanos knew that he wanted to be a fashion designer, but it was not an easy task to establish his own business, one that would allow him total control and thus insure that each garment would meet with his approval. His route to success took ten years and wound briefly through Traphagen School of Fashion and Hattie Carnegie in New York City; the movie industry at Columbia Pictures working under Jean Louis; a time in Paris at Robert Piguet; back to New York to work at Davidow, and finally, a return to Los Angeles. None of these positions satisfied him and none allowed him the creativity he sought. At last, in 1951, he found a sympathetic buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills who gave him his first order. In 1952 he was able to incorporate his business, Galanos Originals, and over the course of his career he never ceased his vigilant pursuit of quality. Many of his clients noted that the inside of his garments were as finished and beautiful as the outside. James Galanos retired in 1998, and has now turned his creative energy to photography.
As a designer, he began with the fabric, shopping mostly in Europe. Throughout his career he worked closely with a head tailor and a head dressmaker, giving them a sketch or concept with which to start the design process, but ultimately he draped the fabric on a house model to finalize the design. The extraordinary beading and embroidery found on Galanos designs was, for the most part, done by D. Getson Eastern Embroidery in Los Angeles with whom Galanos worked as closely as with his own staff. In the introductory essay in Galanos, the catalogue from the exhibition at the Western Reserve Historical Society and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Barry Bradley writes that Galanos, when persuaded to speak about his creative work, ". . . becomes almost lyrical. He speaks of the satisfaction of working with the fabric, of having something take shape under his hands, to the excitement that occurs when something happens in the draping. . . ." In the same publication, Bernadine Morris, the former fashion editor of the New York Times, writes that Galanos "brought brilliance and quality to styles meant to be bought off the rack." She credits this as his major contribution to the American fashion industry.
The Kent State University Museum is fortunate to have more than 120 different garments by James Galanos in its collection. This exhibition is only a glimpse of the remarkable talent of this creative American. Alicia Vangilder, a senior Fashion Design major, developed the exhibition as an Honors Independent Study. Alicia selected the garments, drafted the labels, drew the flats and assisted with the installation. I am most grateful to her for her excellent work.
Palmer and Mull Galleries | Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Curator
Comfortable, colorful, minimal and occasionally shocking, the clothes created by Rudi Gernreich were both experimental and representative of their times. Fascinated by a performance by Martha Graham he attended soon after his arrival in California, dance changed Rudi's concept of design, and unimpeded motion became the focus of his creed. Characterized by a simplicity of line, a love of strong saturated hues, and a daring sense of graphic design that used both the body and cloth as media, his work stood out and often overstepped sociological boundaries.
His infamous 1964 topless bathing suit became a symbol of controversy worldwide. Indicative of his lifetime advocacy for unisex garments, it was drawn from a boy's "Sunnette" style launched by Jantzen in 1931. Made of knitted wool, like the early 1950s swimsuits without foundations that were part of his early success, it was designed as a prediction of things to come at a time when many women on the Riviera had begun sunbathing without the tops of their bikinis. Retailers sold some 3,000 pieces, to the great surprise of the designer himself, who talked about merely designing for the needs of the new youth culture. He redefined notions of propriety throughout his career: he helped to popularize the miniskirt, designed see-through chiffon shirts and the "No Bra" bra at a time when the highly structured, padded, wired up-lift bra was the norm, proposed hairlessness and interchangeable clothing for both genders as the way of the future, and introduced the unisex thong. A bold thinker with a progressive appreciation of the human body, he was, and perhaps remains, ahead of the curve.
Rudi Gernreich's body of work has endured exceptionally well. He stood on the shoulders of Claire McCardell and Vera Maxwell to chart the future course of American sportswear design and free it from French rule. His work was thought-provoking and rooted in the emerging youth culture and art world. He looked to the street, not the elite, and produced reasonably priced, functional and joyful mass-produced informal garments. A Californian, he created activewear that bludgeoned onlookers with vibrating colors and patterns. A feminist, he sought equality for the sexes through his work and saw women as strong and uninhibited. He was a designer of great talent, a prophet and an activist.
Alumni Gallery | Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Curator
In 2010, Michael Kors' label will enter its thirtieth year in the fashion industry. Worthy of praise for longevity alone, his namesake company, established when he was only 22, now comprises clothing for women and men, accessories, fragrances and beauty products and is firmly established in America, Europe and Asia. Recognized as one of the country's preeminent designers and entrepreneurs, Michael Kors has stayed true to his goal to design "chic, luxurious American sportswear." Through hard work and determination, he has carved himself a place in the heart of distinguished individuals worldwide. His peers at The Council of Fashion Designers of America have nominated his work countless times and have bestowed on him both the Womenswear (1999) and Menswear (2003) Designer of the Year awards. With wit, pragmatism, and an indomitable spirit, this talented man has created an empire.
An important part of Michael Kors' success is his ability to understand his clientele. "My collections have never been about runway hysterics,'" he explained in a recent New York Times article. His clothes strike a balance that few designers attain: they are luxurious yet sporty, embracing the past while always rooted in a contemporary lifestyle. Glamour and practicality co-exist because Kors has consistently been able to bring into play the Goldilocks phenomenon (not too hot, not too cool—just right). This Midas touch has resulted in wholesale revenues that totaled $600 million for his sixty American stores in 2008. A media star due increasingly to his participation as a judge on Project Runway, he remains a virtuoso of trunk shows where he spends time on the selling floor with customers, sales associates and merchants, who recognize his integrity and great sense of humor. Kors keeps it real: "I can make something beautiful, but if it doesn't work in real life, then to me it's a disaster." Quality for the price is also of great importance, which is why he has developed different labels. His design and marketing strategies are not unlike those of Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan, whose shoulders he stands on. Hailed as the next big name in American design for the past decades, he remains cautious: "The minute you think you're there, you're done for." He once mused, quite accurately: "I am the oldest young designer in New York City."
In presenting the first museum exhibition dedicated to the work of Michael Kors, the Kent State University Museum also pays tribute to the late Wendy Zuckerwise Ritter. These two exceptional individuals crossed paths early in their careers when Michael presented trunk shows at Bergdorf Goodman, where Wendy masterfully headed the Donna Karan boutique. When the Michael Kors flagship store finally opened on Madison Avenue in 2000, the recently married Wendy was asked to consider commuting between her new home in Dayton, Ohio, and Manhattan. Her commitment to customers, knowledge, passion, and generosity was valued and, for the last eight years of her life, Michael's success was also her own.
Broadbent Gallery | Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Curator
In 1770, Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin published L'Art du Brodeur, a treatise on embroidery, where he defined the practice as "the art of adding the representation of such motifs as one chooses—flat or in relief, in gold, silver, or color—to the surface of a finished piece of cloth." Far from being reserved for women, embroidery was the trade of his grandfather who left the farm to settle in Paris where his son was eventually bestowed with the title of Embroiderer to the King. In turn, Charles-Germain also served Louis XV when he published his treatise as Dessinateur du Roi (Draftsman/Designer to the King). Detailed and illustrated, it remains a standard reference and a useful document that speaks of the era's artistry and opulence.
Aware of the lavish purpose of this type of needlework, he introduced his work by stating that "The progress and variations of Luxury in different Nations would be a long and curious part of history; I believe that to study the origin of Embroidery should suffice for the present purpose." Spanning over 3,000 years, embroidery can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty of China (ca. 1600-1050 B.C.). Even in 1770, Chinese embroiderers were renowned for their patience and diligence, and the precision of their luminous and colorful silk work was without equal. From leather to diamonds, a wide array of materials was utilized through time and across continents as, according to de Saint-Aubin, "Man's industry and vanity turn all of Nature into a contributor."
Following the principles that guide all art forms, de Saint-Aubin maintained that drawing was the base of embroidery as it determines the forms, distribution, harmony and proportion of works. He listed and described a wide array of techniques: high and low relief, gold thread over shaped vellum sections, shaded gold, traditional as well as modified satin stitches, chain stitch and tambour embroidery, knots, couching, sequins, appliqué work and white work among them. Join us and to learn more about the world of embroidery and, centuries later, remain "captivated by the novelty of the materials, the variety in the designs, and the beauty of their execution."
Higbee Gallery | Noël Palomo-Lovinski, Guest Curator
Public confession has become increasingly popular in our society as an outlet for individuals to expunge guilt, share personal tragedy, or express secret desires. Confessional outlets range from nationally televised talk shows and confessional websites, to personal communications and intimate journal writing.
Women in particular often communicate personal information about themselves to form a sense of community or bonding and as a way to rationalize or accept the feelings that they have. Despite this natural impulse, many women have sought anonymous forums such as popular confessional websites that allow them to divulge honest hidden feelings of inadequacy or frustration.
My work has been particularly concerned with the tension that exists between the enduring archetype of the caring female and the nature of such contradictory confessions. I have chosen dress as the primary medium of expressing these ideas because it acts as such a strong visual metaphor for identity. Quotes were taken from several confessional websites and used as a variety of decorative texture and pattern in digitally printed fabric.
The contradictions inherent in the nature of these confessions became inspiration for the form of the dress piece. The confessions themselves act as a type of juxtaposition, with the fabric layering and construction mimicking the posture and dilemma of the confessor.
Blum and Stager Galleries | Dr. Shirley Teresa Wajda, Guest Curator
The Kokoon Arts Club of Cleveland, Ohio, was founded in 1911 by a small group of commercial artists employed at the Otis Lithograph Company. Meeting first at night in a vacant tailor's shop, the Club's founding members pledged themselves to explore the "New Art." This they did, with gusto and paint.
Through a full calendar of members' shows, sketching excursions, auctions, lectures, theater and musical productions and classes, the Kokoon Arts Club became a fixture of Cleveland's arts scene throughout the 1910s and 1920s. To fund their activities and pay the mortgage, the Kokoon members in 1913 inaugurated an annual bal masque, a bohemian revel that by the 1920s attracted thousands of free-spirited Clevelanders.
Yet such revelry was not to last. The Kokoon Arts Club lost vitality as Modernism became less an outsider's intellectual pursuit and more mainstream. Membership declined during the Great Depression and World War II. The last bal masque was held in 1946, and the Club was dissolved in 1953.
Tarter/Miller Gallery | Dr. James Measell, Guest Curator
The glass collection of Jabe Tarter and Paul Miller holds wonderful evidence of the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of the glass makers of Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. This exhibition, curated by James Measell, historian at the Fenton Art Glass Company, focuses on pieces from the second quarter of the twentieth century, a period known as "between the wars," a period spanning both luxurious excess and deep depression.
During the 1920s and 1930s, American glass companies created an extraordinary variety of products, ranging from expensive art glass to inexpensive glassware for everyday use. Handmade glassware was especially popular in the 1920s, and the firms making such products used traditional pressing and blowing techniques, equipment, and tools. In the 1930s, manufacturers came to rely on automatic machines to produce great quantities of utilitarian glassware.
Victorian and Colonial styles persisted, but Art Deco also had its time. Decorative techniques involved cutting, etching, hand painting, or sandblasting as well as the use of decals or silver deposit. Interestingly, every American glass manufacturer seems to have produced candlesticks, albeit during a period when electricity was being made available to almost every American home.
There was something in glass for everyone: graceful console sets for the foyer; colorful luncheon sets in distinctive hues for formal occasions; and utilitarian articles of all kinds for food preparation and storage in the kitchen.
Palmer and Mull Galleries | Dr. Anne Bissonnette, Curator
Between November 1912 and December 1925, with a hiatus during World War I between summer 1915 and January 1920, the Gazette du Bon Ton sought to be "the place where couturiers and painters collaborate to compose the silhouette of their time." It was the brain child of Lucien Vogel, a dynamic Frenchman who had studied at the École Alsacienne and had become a force in the fine art edition and printing world. Fascinated by nineteenth century hand-colored engravings from the Journal des dames et des modes, he set out to create a luxury modern magazine that would be the epitome of good taste.
Vogel gathered la crème de la crème of illustrators who worked in a new minimal visual style characterized by strong line delineations and flat color surfaces. He met Georges Lepape, a young painter, in 1911 in a gallery opened by designer Paul Poiret. On display were the artist's fashion plates for Les choses de Paul Poiret vues par Georges Lepape as well as work from his friends Bernard Boutet de Monvel and Pierre Brissaud. The latter was, like André E. Marty, a student of the École Alsacienne, and this group, along with Charles Martin and Edouardo Garcia Bénito, became some of the most important illustrators of the series, which also featured the work of over eighty visual artists. Intended to convey "the most elegant, the most witty and the most novel collection of apparel ideas," these creators not only illustrated the work of leading Parisian design houses, they also designed garments of their own that were featured in plates included in each publication. Produced in limited editions on handmade paper, the series spared no expense and used the pochoir, or stencil, technique to hand watercolor the hors-texte plates.
Through vision and uncompromising standards, the series led rather than followed and helped to blur the boundaries between art and fashion. In 1915, Condé Nast co-published an issue of the Gazette du Bon Ton with Lucien Vogel. During the War hiatus, Nast employed Gazette artists for Vogue covers and, in early 1921, he bought a controlling interest in the Gazette. Eventually Lucien Vogel became the first Art Director of French Vogue and his wife, Cosette de Brunoff, became its first Editor. Henri Bidou, in the Gazette's first issue after the War, wrote quite accurately about fashion and tastemakers, "If we write here the story of dresses, the dresses will write in due time the story of their times."
Broadbent Gallery | Kasey Bland, Guest Curator and Sara Hume, Museum Curator
His self-titled label produced eveningwear and daytime styles for the wholesale, ready-to-wear market, from 1961 to 1991. While he was known for his use of chiffon, Stavropoulos also created notable designs in lace, lamé, suede, and taffeta. Stavropoulos, born in Greece, believed in classic design and found inspiration in the simplicity of ancient Greek sculpture. Renowned for his innovative draping techniques, Stavropoulos created every piece in his collection and produced the entire line in his 57th Street atelier. For each spring and fall runway presentation, Stavropoulos created about one hundred designs and held his shows at the luxurious Regency Hotel, in Manhattan. Buyers from the most important stores in New York attended each show, as well as socialites and celebrities. Stavropoulos initially became known for dressing Lady Bird Johnson during her White House years and created looks for other popular figures throughout his career.
Fiercely independent, Stavropoulos did not participate in the licensing agreements popular with other designers of his time or join the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Stavropoulos believed in his own fashion philosophy and refused to adhere to the ephemeral nature of fashion, creating sophisticated styles that incorporated classic design and subtle innovation.
