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 exhibitions for the world
The exhibition "The Evolution of Fashion 1835-1895" focused on the transformation of Western clothing in the nineteenth century. Clothing in this period reflected significant shifts in the social structure of modern times: the rise of the middle classes, the introduction of new cultures, and the Industrial Revolution. It was also appropriate that the Kyoto Costume Institute, the first Western fashion research institute in Japan, should concentrate on this period for its first exhibition, since it was around that time, during the nineteenth century, that the Japanese themselves first adopted Western clothing.
In 1989, the year of the two-hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution, the KCI held an exhibition entitled "Revolution in Fashion 1715-1815" at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. The exhibition showcased the dramatic changes in fashion that occurred around the time of the French Revolution. The costumes exhibited ranged from magnificent rococo court fashion to the simple cotton dress that appeared after the Revolution. The dynamic shift from the flamboyant rococo style nurtured in the court culture to the simple style of neoclassicism, which evolved after the Revolution, fully captures the aftereffect of the French Revolution in history. The record-breaking number of visitors who saw the exhibition underscored the value of the show.
This exhibition was subsequently mounted at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in late 1989 under the title "Ancien Régime", and in 1990 in theMusée des Arts de laMode et du Textile at the Louvre in Paris, under the title "Elégances etModes en France au XVIIIe siècle." The French newspaper Libération commented favorably on the show in its cultural pages, stating that the old costumes of the eighteenth century had been revitalized with sensual and realistic beauty by the KCI exhibition. This assessment, from Paris, the center of the fashion world, is one indicator of the appreciation the KCI has received. "Japonism in Fashion," an exhibition held in the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, presented an overview of Japanese influence on Parisian fashion from the late nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, and examined the impact of the kimono on modern fashion. The study of Japonism in fashion had been undertaken previously, but not in a truly academic manner. The KCI felt the need to study the subject further. Due to considerable cooperation from professionals in various fields, including the museums of many countries and the world-renowned International Research Center of Japanese Studies in Kyoto, the exhibition was a sensational success.
Page 1 2 3 4 5
Page 1 2 3 4 5
Costume exhibitions for the world
The exhibition "The Evolution of Fashion 1835-1895" focused on the transformation of Western clothing in the nineteenth century. Clothing in this period reflected significant shifts in the social structure of modern times: the rise of the middle classes, the introduction of new cultures, and the Industrial Revolution. It was also appropriate that the Kyoto Costume Institute, the first Western fashion research institute in Japan, should concentrate on this period for its first exhibition, since it was around that time, during the nineteenth century, that the Japanese themselves first adopted Western clothing.
In 1989, the year of the two-hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution, the KCI held an exhibition entitled "Revolution in Fashion 1715-1815" at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. The exhibition showcased the dramatic changes in fashion that occurred around the time of the French Revolution. The costumes exhibited ranged from magnificent rococo court fashion to the simple cotton dress that appeared after the Revolution. The dynamic shift from the flamboyant rococo style nurtured in the court culture to the simple style of neoclassicism, which evolved after the Revolution, fully captures the aftereffect of the French Revolution in history. The record-breaking number of visitors who saw the exhibition underscored the value of the show.
This exhibition was subsequently mounted at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in late 1989 under the title "Ancien Régime", and in 1990 in theMusée des Arts de laMode et du Textile at the Louvre in Paris, under the title "Elégances etModes en France au XVIIIe siècle." The French newspaper Libération commented favorably on the show in its cultural pages, stating that the old costumes of the eighteenth century had been revitalized with sensual and realistic beauty by the KCI exhibition. This assessment, from Paris, the center of the fashion world, is one indicator of the appreciation the KCI has received. "Japonism in Fashion," an exhibition held in the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, presented an overview of Japanese influence on Parisian fashion from the late nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, and examined the impact of the kimono on modern fashion. The study of Japonism in fashion had been undertaken previously, but not in a truly academic manner. The KCI felt the need to study the subject further. Due to considerable cooperation from professionals in various fields, including the museums of many countries and the world-renowned International Research Center of Japanese Studies in Kyoto, the exhibition was a sensational success.
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