Exhibition Archive

Nan Kempner: American Chic

“Fashion is an art. When you look at paintings in a museum, you see a reflection of how women dressed in certain eras. A designer is as much of an artist as an author, painter, or architect. Fashion design is, after all, architecture for the body.”

Mrs. Thomas Kempner (1930–2005) was an icon of American style, and over five decades she acquired thousands of articles of clothing and accessories, all reflecting her flawless taste and personal expression. This exhibition includes more than 60 ensembles created by Yves Saint Laurent, Madame Grès, Christian Lacroix, Valentino, and others. It reflects not only Kempner’s impeccable eye when it came to selecting pieces for her personal wardrobe, but also the individualistic approach she brought to coordinating them. This exhibition, organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, exhibits objects from the collections of both the Met and the Fine Arts Museums. Included are pieces from Mrs. Kempner’s 1985 gift to FAMSF, as well as, Mr. Thomas Kempner’s recent gift to the Museums. More

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Elegant Distortions

In the late 1980s Vivienne Westwood reintroduced the corset, transforming it from restrictive underwear into fashionable outerwear. Her revival of the corset may be her most important contribution to late 20th-century fashion. This exhibition chronicles the evolution of the corset through a selection of historical corsets from the museum’s permanent collection, along with print selections from the Achenbach Foundation.