Couture: then and now
Foreword of the book 'Fashion. A History from the 18th to the 20th Century'. By Akiko Fukai, Chief Curator, The Kyoto Costume Institute
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Costume materials consist primarily of Western clothing and related items such as underpinnings, lingerie, and accessories. Undergarments make up a particularly comprehensive part of the collection, as the KCI believes that lingerie evokes an essential characteristic of costume history in the West. Related printed matter provides important reference to further examine the history and social background of Western clothing.
The collection ranges from the early seventeenth century to the present and encompasses rare treasures such as a seventeenth-century iron corset with embroidered bodice, worn in Elizabethan times and later.
Both male and female clothing from the eighteenth century are represented in the collection, but from the nineteenth century on, the collection represents primarily women's clothing, as the KCI feels it reflects the ideal beauty of the time more faithfully than male apparel. The contemporary branch of the collection comprises clothing created by world-famous designers, including numerous pieces from Japanese designers who have been active since the 1970s, like Comme des Garçons, which donated over 2,000 items, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and other designers of the new generation.
The Kyoto Costume Institute has lent its collections to longer-established museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), among others. The KCI has also received numerous donations from individual fashion collectors and designers from all over the world, including Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, and many Japanese designers. A professionally controlled environment in which temperature and humidity are constantly monitored with great care ensures that the collection is preserved from aging and other types of deterioration. The KCI only restores items in the collection when absolutely necessary, and then with the utmost attention to detail.
The key to costume exhibition
These high standards and the extensiveness of its collections ensure the success of the exhibitions held by the Kyoto Costume Institute. The KCI stands in opposition to the general trend of the past two decades where the establishment of a museum structure is privileged above the quality of the collections inside. Despite the fact that the KCI has mounted superior exhibitions every four to five years, often in conjunction with the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, the institute itself still does not have its own largescale exhibition space.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Costume materials consist primarily of Western clothing and related items such as underpinnings, lingerie, and accessories. Undergarments make up a particularly comprehensive part of the collection, as the KCI believes that lingerie evokes an essential characteristic of costume history in the West. Related printed matter provides important reference to further examine the history and social background of Western clothing.
The collection ranges from the early seventeenth century to the present and encompasses rare treasures such as a seventeenth-century iron corset with embroidered bodice, worn in Elizabethan times and later.
Both male and female clothing from the eighteenth century are represented in the collection, but from the nineteenth century on, the collection represents primarily women's clothing, as the KCI feels it reflects the ideal beauty of the time more faithfully than male apparel. The contemporary branch of the collection comprises clothing created by world-famous designers, including numerous pieces from Japanese designers who have been active since the 1970s, like Comme des Garçons, which donated over 2,000 items, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and other designers of the new generation.
The Kyoto Costume Institute has lent its collections to longer-established museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), among others. The KCI has also received numerous donations from individual fashion collectors and designers from all over the world, including Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, and many Japanese designers. A professionally controlled environment in which temperature and humidity are constantly monitored with great care ensures that the collection is preserved from aging and other types of deterioration. The KCI only restores items in the collection when absolutely necessary, and then with the utmost attention to detail.
The key to costume exhibition
These high standards and the extensiveness of its collections ensure the success of the exhibitions held by the Kyoto Costume Institute. The KCI stands in opposition to the general trend of the past two decades where the establishment of a museum structure is privileged above the quality of the collections inside. Despite the fact that the KCI has mounted superior exhibitions every four to five years, often in conjunction with the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, the institute itself still does not have its own largescale exhibition space.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Corset, c. 1580-1600, French. Iron with scroll motif; one front and two back pieces; opening at center-back. Inv. AC9250 95-45. Gift of Wacoal Corp.