At the beginning of my internship, I was informed that I would begin research for an exhibition that would one day be online on Google Arts & Culture. My director had a few ideas she wanted me to explore that were designer-driven exhibits. The designer I ultimately decided upon is Mary McFadden, a womenswear designer from New York that worked from the 1970s to the 1990s. Though I had never heard of her previously, I have since been wrapped up in her designs and the narrative that she constructed around her work and image.
We have quite a few beautiful pieces from Mary McFadden in the collection. She created very simple, loosely constructed garments that were visually interesting by their textile treatment. McFadden considered herself a fine artist and would construct the canvas (textile) first before creating a design. She is infamous for her “Marii” pleats which were a synthetic version of Mariano Fortuny’s silk pleats that he popularized in the first half of the century. McFadden’s pleats were synthetic and heat set so that they would always keep their shape and be able to easily hang in a closet.
What is most interesting to me about McFadden is her interest in cultural mining. Each of her collections is thematic based on a different period or culture. Some examples are “Mosaics of Pompeii and Herculaneum,” “American Indian,” and “Ottoman Sultans.” There is a lot to unpack here. Questions of legitimacy, cultural appropriation, influencer culture, and constructed narrative have formed from my research. I have decided to pursue this topic for my thesis research, which is good news because I had previously been floundering and unable to land on a specific idea. There is not much research done on Mary McFadden so I hope to bring something new and interesting to the table.
Skirt ensemble by Mary McFadden (1970/1979)
Cocktail dress by Mary McFadden (1982)
No comments:
Post a Comment