On 6 August the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York reopened its doors with the debut of a major exhibition, “Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion” co-curated by Amy De La Haye, Professor of Dress History and Curatorship and Co-Director of Centre for Fashion Curation at London College of Fashion. The exhibition, featuring over 130 items and incorporating 75 photographs, explores how the rose has influenced the way we look, dress, feel and fantasise.
Talking about inspiration behind the exhibition, Professor Amy De La Haye cited three main sources:
“Most of my projects are ignited by a curiosity about a garment or group of garments. 'Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion' was inspired by three very different sources - a phrase by T.S. Eliot that reads, '...for the roses, had the look of flowers that are looked at’, Nick Knight's sublime 'Roses from my Garden' images, and my mother's adoration of roses.”
Themes such as love, beauty, sex, sin, gendered identities, rites of passage, transgression, degradation, and death are explored through garments and accessories ranging from the most luxurious hand-woven and embroidered 18th-century silks to pieces from contemporary designers like Charles Jeffrey and Neil Grotzinger.
“Visitors will descend a staircase decorated with a surreal, hand-painted, oversize design of thorny branches and roses. They then enter the 'Rose Garden of Hats' and a 'Rose Garden of Fashion', which display fashion items dating from 18th century court dress to the latest gender-neutral styles. The walls are painted a pale violet colour to suggest dawn and dusk, the times of day when roses are most fragrant. A group of late 19th and early 20th century studio portraits make the point that, whilst not everyone can - or indeed want to - wear designer level fashion, most of us can look, and maybe even feel transformed, by wearing one or more fresh or faux roses. They also demonstrate how roses interface with the fashionable dressed body.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a book ‘Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion; written by Amy de la Haye, exploring the influence of a rose even further. In addition to garments and accessories, the book includes chapters on perfume and jewellery, and a conversation, “On Roses,” with famed photographer Nick Knight, together with contributions from fashion historians Jonathan Faiers, Colleen Hill, Mairi MacKenzie, and Geoffrey Munn. The Museum at FIT's 24th academic symposium Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion was held on 30 April, 2021. This virtual event explored how the beauty, mythology, and symbolism of the rose have long influenced fashionable dress. #RoseInFashion
- Find out more about the evolution of the exhibition and behind the scenes on Amy’s Instagram.
- Exhibition website at The Museum at MFIT
Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion
Special Exhibitions Gallery
The Museum at FIT
All images ©The Museum at FIT
Gallery
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The Garden of Hats, Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion exhibition installation, Image courtesy of The Museum at FIT, New York
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The Garden of Hats, Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion exhibition installation, Image courtesy of The Museum at FIT, New York
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Two mid-20th-century millinery designs from the rose garden of hats. Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion exhibition installation, Image courtesy of The Museum at FIT, New York
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More than 75 photographs from the mid-19th through the early 20th centuries demonstrate how real and artificial roses could transform their wearer’s appearance. Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion. Image courtesy of The Museum at FIT.
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An overview of the main gallery, featuring a dress by Agnès and a pantsuit by Robert Cavalli (centre). Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion. Image courtesy of The Museum at FIT.
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A case featuring rose-themed accessories dating from the mid-19th century to the 21st century. Image courtesy of The Museum at FIT.
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An overview of the main gallery, featuring rose-themed garments in shades of red, white, and pink. Image courtesy of The Museum at FIT.
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Dresses highlighting red roses. From left to right: an evening gown by Luis Estévez, an ensemble by Thom Browne, a dress by Anna Sui, and an ensemble by Noir Kei Ninomiya. Image courtesy of The Museum at FIT.
Curators
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Amy de la Haye, Rootstein Hopkins Chair of Dress History & Curatorship and Joint Director of CfFC
Professor Amy de la Haye
Professor Amy de la Haye is a curator, academic and author. She is the Rootstein Hopkins Chair of Dress History & Curatorship at London College of Fashion and teaches on the MA Fashion Curation course. Amy co-curated Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion.
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Colleen Hill, curator of costume and accessories The Museum at FIT
Colleen Hill
Colleen Hill is curator of costume and accessories at the Museum at FIT in New York. Colleen co-curated Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion.