Fashion – longlistshort

Duane Michals (1932-2026)

Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Fashion, New York Art Shows, Photographers / Photography, Video and Film

Jun 122026

Duane Michals, “The Spirit Leaves The Body”, 1968, courtesy of DC Moore Gallery

“Magritte with Easel”, 1965, courtesy of DC Moore Gallery

“A Letter From My Father”, 1975, courtesy of DC Moore Gallery

Innovative photographer Duane Michals passed away on Tuesday, 6/9/26, at the age of 94. He was famous for both his portraits of famous artists and celebrities, and for more personal work that often included his writing on the prints, something not done at the time.

He continuously worked up until his death, even shooting the campaign, What are Dreams, for Bottega Veneta last year. Featuring actor Jacob Elordi, it includes a short film along with a photo series, both based on a poem by Michals.

Jacob Elordi and Duane Michals in Bottega Veneta’s “What Are Dreams” campaign, photographed by Duane Michals in 2025. Photo courtesy of Bottega Veneta (image via Artnet)

His 2019 exhibition, Illusions of the Photographer at The Morgan Library and Museum included The Spirit Leaves the Body, and A Letter From My Father (pictured above), along with a few handwritten notes in his distinctive style, like the one below on death. Many of his photographs reflected an interest in mortality, but there was also a lighthearted aspect to many others.

For more on the artist, also check out this 2022 interview in Aperture magazine. In it he talks about his work, his partner of over 50 years (architect Fred Gorrée), his dreams, the importance of curiosity, and more. He also had a fun Instagram worth taking a look through.

NYC Public Art- William Wegman’s Subway Murals

Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Fashion, Glasswork, Mixed Media, New York Art Shows, Photographers / Photography, Public Art

Oct 072025

William Wegman‘s portraits of his Weimaraner dogs were recreated in glass mosaic form by Mayer of Munich in 2018 for “Stationary Figures”, lcated in the 23rd Street subway station. The eleven murals brighten up the walls and are one of the many projects created by MTA Arts & Design.

From MTA Arts & Design about the work-

Photographed with the artist’s deadpan sense of humor, the dogs take on human attributes, from wearing street clothes like a shiny raincoat or flannel shirt, to being grouped like passengers as they gaze into space or peer down the platform as if waiting for the train.

Situated in bold blocks of color, the larger-than-life mosaic dogs are bursting into space and interacting with commuters. The mosaic fabricator, Mayer of Munich, interpreted the photographs taken for this project by meticulously transforming the facial expressions, skin textures and patterns of the dogs’ vibrant attire into glass mosaic. Wegman has lived and worked in the neighborhood for decades, and together with his dogs Flo and her brother Topper, they have created images that enliven this busy station.

Speaking about the project, Wegman said, “I wanted to create portraits of individual characters, people who you might see next to you on the platform. For these I dressed the dogs in more or less ordinary clothes, nothing too fashionable. I was very interested in the way in which photographs, even the out of focus dogs in the background of some images, could be translated into mosaic by Mayer of Munich, who skillfully turned gray stones into gray dogs.”

Below are the two series consisting of three panels each-

Films to Watch- “Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music”

Art, Artists, Conceptual Art, Design, Fashion, Films, History, Music, Performance Art, Performances, Sculptors / Sculpture, Theater, Video and Film

Jun 112025

Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music Trailer

In 2016, Taylor Mac performed his immersive 24-Decade History of Popular Music in a theater in Brooklyn for a full twenty four hours. Normally performed in sections, this was the first and only time this had been done. Decade by decade, from 1776-2016, the history of popular music and the history of America merge, with a decidedly queer slant.

The documentary, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, includes footage from the show combined with interviews with Mac, his incredible costume designer Machine Dazzle, his musical director Matt Ray, and his co-director Niegel Smith. Although Mac is the main performer, the show includes a stage full of musicians, additional singers, and his “Dandy Minions” who can often be found offstage interacting with the audience. Mac’s desire to draw people together and build community is highlighted during several moments focused on the audience’s participation.

Throughout the many hours, performers leave the stage for good leaving only Mac by the end of the show. This is meant to mirror the losses from the AIDS epidemic. Even with only a small selection of these moments, you can feel the effect this creates.

Inventive, beautiful, funny, and often moving, this documentary provides a small taste of the performance and will leave you wanting more.

Mac’s costume for the 1980s

Taylor Mac and Machine Dazzle

Mac’s costume photo shoot for the 1950s

Mac with an audience member

Mar 172025

The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing by former New York magazine editor Adam Moss is a fascinating look at the creative processes of several famous artists. Each artist discusses specific works and gives the reader an inside look at how they came about.

The 43 artists included are visual artists, writers, musicians, editors, designers, and many other creative categories. Moss is also an artist and you can see that in his desire to both inform the reader, and to learn for himself, what makes these individuals tick.

Many of the names will be familiar, but these behind the scenes looks are incredibly enlightening. These discussions often also inspired, for me, a deeper dive. I found myself watching videos of Twyla Tharp‘s choreography, reading Guy Talese’s essay and Sheila Heti’s book, listening to Moses Sumney, watching Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, and so on, as I progressed through the book.

While some artists will appeal more than others depending on your interests, all of them had something interesting and valuable to say. This book was one of my favorites of 2024.

Weekend Watch- “The First Monday in May”

Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Fashion, Films, New York Art Shows

Sep 012024

Trailer- “The First Monday in May”

The 2016 documentary The First Monday in May, follows chief curator of The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Andrew Bolton as he prepares the 2015 exhibition China: Through the Looking Glass. The film also follows Anna Wintour as she prepares for the Met Gala party that accompanies the exhibition. Bolton’s work on the show with director Wong Kar Wai, as well as the negotiations and logistics behind creating it are fascinating.

The film is full of celebrities and fashion designers including Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier, and John Galliano.

The Costume Institute’s latest exhibition, also curated by Andrew Bolton, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, closes on 9/2.

Throwback- NYC Art Shows- Whitney Biennial 2017- Raúl de Nieves

Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Collage, Conceptual Art, Fashion, Fiber Arts, Installation Art, Mixed Media, New York Art Shows, Painting / Painters, Sculptors / Sculpture

Aug 292024

“Somos Monstros 2”, 2016

The work above was part of Raúl de Nieves’ large installation created for the 2017 Whitney Biennial.

From the museum about his work-

For his site-specific work for the 2017 Biennial, Raúl de Nieves covered six floor-to-ceiling windows with eighteen “stained-glass” panels he made using paper, wood, glue, tape, beads, and acetate sheets. The windows create a vivid backdrop for de Nieves’s elaborately beaded sculptures, some of which are based on shoes (but are adorned to the point of abstraction), while others take the form of figures draped in heavy costumes worn by the artist in his performances.

In all of his work, de Nieves treats modest materials with meticulous attention, turning the mundane into the fantastical—with metamorphosis a common theme. The windows depict a world in which death and waste are omnipresent, often symbolized by a fly. Unlike many Western spiritual traditions, however, de Nieves presents death as a metaphor for the possibility of spectacular transformation and rebirth in an unpredictable and turbulent world.

Fashion magazine W interviewed the artist about the work- here.

Throwback- Florida Art Shows- Naeem Khan at Tampa Museum of Art

Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Fashion, Fiber Arts, Florida Art Shows, Installation Art, Sculptors / Sculpture, Tampa

Aug 292024

Last year Tampa Museum of Art installed work by fashion designer Naeem Khan, including the two pieces above, Floating Flowers Fuchsia and Gold and Floating Flowers Pink and Silver.

From the museum about the work-

As part of its ongoing exhibition series exploring the intersection of art and fashion, the Tampa Museum of Art presents a series of paintings by globally renowned fashion designer Naeem Khan. Khan works independently, as well collaboratively with artist Stanley Casselman as the collective KACE, to create large-scale works inspired by his ongoing exploration of flora, light, and color. Five monumental works, comprised of paint and sequins represent Khan’s inaugural museum exhibition.

The Khan Family, steeped in the tradition of fashion and textiles for over 100 years, is renowned for their atelier in Mumbai and their luxurious couture worn by luminaries and India’s royalty. Khan arrived in New York at the age of 17, travelling to the United States with his father. A business appointment with Halston changed the course of his life as the famed designer decided on the spot that Khan would be his protégé. With Halston as his mentor, Khan became immersed in Manhattan’s art and social circles. From the atelier to Studio 54 and Andy Warhol’s Factory, Khan emerged as a designer at a pivotal moment in the 1970s where the lines between art, fashion, music, film, and celebrity were often blurred, further signifying New York City as the epicenter of creativity.

While working with Halston, Khan met Andy Warhol who frequently collaborated with Halston on his projects. Khan participated in their collaborations by drawing the flowers for their designs, specifically poppies. Warhol, like Halston, took Khan under his wing and once told the young designer, “You shouldn’t hold your pencil that way. Let me show you how to draw.” Flowers, inspired by his work and friendship with Warhol as well as the flora in his home country of India, anchor Khan’s visual language.
In 2020, painter Stanley Casselman introduced himself to Khan at one of his fashion shows and was immediately struck by the beauty and power of the designer’s work. Casselman observed that Khan’s designs could be translated into painting. Conversations lead to collaboration and today the two artists work both individually and together under the name KACE. Works, such as Jardin Chrome and Jardin d’Or, feature Khan’s elaborate sequined blooms in concert with Casselman’s gestural paint strokes. The compositions reveal the signature elements of each artists’ practice. Here, Khan’s ornate craftsmanship and Casselman’s abstract mark making unite in dazzling effect.

Khan’s solo works, Floating Flowers Pink and Silver and Floating Flowers Fuchsia and Gold, nod to his familial history with fabric, color, composition, and texture while pushing the boundaries of contemporary painting. Each flower is comprised of hundreds of sequins and beads. Delicately sewn onto silkscreen material, Khan suspends the panels one over the other, creating a sculptural quality to the paintings. Fabricated in a range of petal formations and size, Khan’s blossoms both capture and reflect light. As if suspended in space, the flowers come to life, symbolizing Khan’s creative past and his burgeoning artistic future.

NYC Art Shows- “Sleeping Beauties: Awakening Fashion” at The Met

Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Fashion, Mixed Media, New York Art Shows, Sculptors / Sculpture

Aug 282024

Bea Szenfeld, “Ammonite”, spring/summer 2014, White paper, white polyester thread, and white plastic pearls

“Undercover” (Japanese, founded 1990) Jun Takahashi, Dress, spring/summer 2024, White silk satin trimmed with pink rayon plain-weave roses and pink synthetic pleated organza and overlaid with white nylon tulle embroidered with black plastic sequins and crystal, bugle, and seed beads in the forms of spiders and trimmed with white silk satin

Gucci, Alessandro Michele, Cape, autumn/winter 2017-18, Seafoam silk satin embroidered with polychrome plastic sequins, plastic pearls, clear glass crystals, black glass bugle beads, and bronze glass seed beads in the pattern of a dove, a cloud and flowers

Pictured above are just a few of the many stunning works on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the exhibition, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. In addition to the over 200 garments and accessories, the museum has added an additional sensory experience that includes scents that influenced the designers of certain time periods.

Curator Andrew Bolton discusses the show with Artnet here.

From the museum-

When an item of clothing enters The Costume Institute’s collection, its status is irrevocably changed. What was once a vital part of a person’s lived experience becomes a lifeless work of art that can no longer be worn, heard, touched, or smelled. Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion endeavors to resuscitate garments from the collection by reactivating their sensory qualities and reengaging
our sensorial perceptions. With its cross-sensory offerings, the exhibition aims to extend the interpretation of fashion within museums from the merely visual to the multisensory and participatory, encouraging personal connections.

The galleries unfold as a series of case studies united by the theme of nature. Motifs such as flowers and foliage, birds and insects, and fish and shells are organized into three groupings: earth, air, and water, respectively. In many ways, nature serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion—its rebirth, renewal, and cyclicity as well as its transience, ephemerality, and evanescence. The latter qualities are evident in the “sleeping beauties,” garments that are self- destructing due to inherent weaknesses and the inevitable passage of time, which ground several of the case studies.

Sleep is an essential salve for a garment’s well-being and survival, but as in life, it requires a suspension of the senses that equivocates between life and death. The exhibition is a reminder that the featured fashions— despite being destined for an eternal slumber safely within the museum’s walls—do not forget their sensory histories. Indeed, these histories are embedded within the very fibers of their being, and simply require reactivation through the mind and body, heart and soul of those willing to dream and imagine.

Mary Katranzou’s “Digitalis” evening dress, spring/summer 2018, White synthetic faille digitally printed with lilies, daisies, dahlias, peonies, petunias, amaryllises, chrysanthemums, and foxgloves, embroidered with polychrome sequins, seed beads, bugle beads, and cannetille, and pieced with white neoprene trimmed with gray scuba knit and digitally printed with black lilies, daisies, dahlias, peonies, petunias, amaryllises, and chrysanthemums

About the dress above from the museum-

Mary Katrantzou‘s evening dress combines several elements of the three painted silk gowns opposite. Stylistically, the bold scale, color palette, and arrangement of the floral motifs resemble the 1740s robe à la frangaise, while the techniques of outlining the pattern in black and embroidering the flowers and leaves with beads recall the 1780g robe à l’anglaise and the 1870s Mme Martin Decalf gown, respectively. Katrantzou’s design inspiration, however, is decidedly contemporary: the children’s activity paint by number, which involves filling in numbered sections of a picture outlined in black with corresponding colored pigments.

Conner Ives, “Couture Girl” dress, autumn/winter 2021-22, White deadstock silk organza embroidered with polychrome deadstock plastic seed beads and polychrome recycled polyethylene terephthalate sequins of daisies, peonies, dahlias, and sunflowers

About the dress above-

Nature and artifice coalesce in Conner Ives’s “Couture Girl” dress from the designer’s 2020 graduate collection “The American Dream,” which was inspired by the women with whom he grew up in Bedford, New York. The garment’s bulblike shape parodies the pneumatic silhouettes of mid-twentieth-century fashion. The dress took five months to complete and is a testament to Ives’s commitment to sustainable practices: the silk organza is deadstock fabric donated by Carolina Herrera’s creative director, Wes Gordon, and the paillettes – made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – were designed and produced in collaboration with Rachel Olowes of the Sustainable Sequin Company. Ives embroidered the more than ten thousand sequins by hand, basing the six shapes on his four favorite flowers – daisies, peonies, dahlias, and sunflowers.

The museum also included these rose-inspired garments.

Dolce & Gabbana, Domenico Dolce, Stefano Gabbana, Dress, 2024 Alta Moda, Red silk satin

Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Jacket, autumn/winter 2022-23 haute couture, Red silk taffeta appliqued with self-fabric roses

This exhibition closes 9/2/24.

Throwback Thursday- Olimpia Zagnoli at HVW8 Gallery Los Angeles

Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Collage, Conceptual Art, Digital Art, Fashion, Illustration, Italy, Los Angeles Art Shows, Milan, Mixed Media, Painting / Painters, Photographers / Photography, Sculptors / Sculpture

Oct 052023

Above are images from Olimpia Zagnoli’s 2018 exhibition Cuore di Panna at HVW8 Gallery in Los Angeles. She is currently showing her work, along with her talented family at Antonio Colombo Gallery in Milan, Italy. That exhibition, ZaLiZaZa. Inventario di famiglia will be on view until 11/19/23.

The press release from the gallery-

Galleria Antonio Colombo is pleased to present the exhibition ZaLiZaZa. Inventario di famiglia, curated by Francesca Pellicciari, featuring a group of artists belonging to the same family: the photographer Miro Zagnoli (Za), the artist Emi Ligabue (Li) and their two daughters: the illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli (Za), already connected with the gallery, and the costume designer Emilia Zagnoli (Za).

The members of ZaLiZaZa are a very modern family, but also one of days gone by: were they not engaged in making their own various artifacts, we could imagine them operating in a family workshop in the Renaissance or Baroque spirit, experimenting with new painting techniques, revolutionizing styles or using them as examples to make their own; creating majestic theatrical wings, garbed in their style which is simultaneously classic and eccentric.

After all, this image is not so far from what ZaLiZaZa are doing today, in the 21st century, each in his or her own field – contiguous and often overlapping ambits – constantly coming to grips with their own research and experimentation, relying on a shared language, a true family lexicon.

The exhibition pathway is an inventory of works of all kinds – drawings and photographs, wooden books, collages, object/sculptures, fabrics, screens and magic boxes – in an intense dialogue of correspondences, where the four voices alternate and take turns, without a chronological order; a dialogue accompanied by a selection of items (sketches, notes, postcards, family photos) that document a methodology, while at the same time emphasizing the constant presence of art in the private life of ZaLiZaZa.

Thus it is no coincidence that many subjects are similar in the work of ZaLiZaZa.

While for decades design has pervaded the still analog settings and photographs of Miro (Za), it is also a recurring theme in the works of Emi (Li), from the Cicognino of Albini to the life and work of Charlotte Perriand, or anonymous design found for sale online: “I have no taboos, no type of respect or norm.” Similar use of anonymous and unconventional materials is found in the “Souvenir” clothing series by Emilia (Za), made from touristy dishtowels with the map of Italy, just as certain archetypes return in the thousands of stripes traced by Olimpia (Za), always in pursuit of the perfect synthesis between the idea and its representation.

Beyond this, beyond design, mountains, figures, bodies, portraits, chiaroscuro effects, balconies, there is the continuing echo – in the various generations of ZaLiZaZa of what Matisse said one day to Picasso, as Emi (Li) reminds us: “In the end, Picasso, we don’t have to try to be so smart. You and I are alike: what we try to rediscover in art is the atmosphere of our First Communion.” To always observe the world with the eyes of children, with the gaze of ZaLiZaZa.

If Olimpia Zagnoli’s work looks familiar, she also designed The New Yorker’s August 28th issue, seen below.

NYC Art Shows- Thierry Mugler at Brooklyn Museum

Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Brooklyn, Fashion, Fiber Arts, New York Art Shows, Photographers / Photography

May 052023

“Méduse de bal” gown

Even if fashion isn’t something you normally find interesting, it’s hard to resist the allure of the creations on view at the Brooklyn Museum for the retrospective Thierry Mugler: Couturissime.

From the museum’s web page-

Thierry Mugler: Couturissime is the first retrospective to explore the fascinating, edgy universe of French designer and creator of iconic perfumes Thierry Mugler. A fashion visionary, Mugler established himself as one of the most daring and innovative designers of the late twentieth century. His bold silhouettes and unorthodox techniques and materials—including glass, Plexiglas, vinyl, latex, and chrome—made their mark on fashion history.

In the 1970s, Mugler defined trends with his acclaimed “glamazon,” a chic, modern woman whose style evolved from the hippie fashions of the 1960s. In the 1980s and ’90s, Mugler galvanized the renaissance of haute couture through his provocative collections and theatrical fashion shows, which involved grandiose locations and the era’s most iconic models. Just as his work is still influencing new generations of couturiers, celebrities continue to be drawn to Mugler’s designs: his classic gowns have recently been worn by Beyoncé, Cardi B, and Kim Kardashian.

The exhibition features over one hundred outfits ranging from haute couture pieces to stage costumes, alongside custom accessories, sketches, videos, images by leading fashion photographers, and spectacular installations that mirror Mugler’s futuristic approach. The Brooklyn Museum’s presentation also introduces an expanded section dedicated to fragrance, centered on Mugler’s trailblazing scent Angel. Thierry Mugler: Couturissime is an opportunity to discover and rediscover the fantastical work of this multidisciplinary artist, who revolutionized the world of fashion.

A description of the above gown from the museum’s info plaque-

The “La Chimère” gown-Mugler’s masterpiece made in collaboration with the South African corset maker Mr. Pearl and the artist Jean-Jacques Urcun- has mythical status, considered by some as one of the most expensive creations in couture history, given the meticulous amount of work required in its making.

Mr. Pearl describes that collaboration with Mugler as the most extreme experience of his life: “[‘La Chimère gown] was probably the most intense project, it took six weeks working 24/7, so basically more than one thousand hours just in embroidery. We were about twenty people working on different parts of it along with Jean-Jacques Urcun. It’s about fantasy, it was like going to the University of Beauty. To fulfill his vision and his fantasies with clothes is already a challenge, he is a genius, a perfectionist. You have to try, and he pushes everyone to try what seems impossible to achieve with a needle.”

Also included in the exhibition are several incredible (and often safety-defying) photos Mugler took himself at various landmarks, including the one below at NYC’s Chrysler Building.

“Chrysler Building, New York”, 1989 -Claude Heidemeyer in “Vertigo” by Mugler, 1988

This exhibition closes 5/7/23.

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