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MoMa's First Fashion Exhibition In 73 Years Showcases Everyday Clothing

Photo: Courtesy The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
It's been over seven decades, but a fashion exhibit is finally making its way into the hallowed halls of New York's Museum of Modern Art.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Items: Is Fashion Modern?, will be the first fashion-related show at the museum since Are Clothes Modern, an exhibit from 1944.
Unlike the Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual Costume institute exhibit, which focuses on a specific designer or cerebral theme, Items: Is Fashion Modern? will shed the spotlight on more everyday fashion items. The collection will include 111 different pieces, with a special focus on items that have had a long-lasting impact on American culture at large.
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Some of the standout pieces are things that people encounter out in the real world, like Levi's 501 jeans, Converse All-Stars, and Calvin Klein briefs. But it's because they've become everyday items that they're in the exhibition. Instead of shining a rarified light on couture, the show is hoping to bring common items into a different context.
There are some high-concept pieces in the exhibit, however. Issey Miyake’s A-POC, a long, continuous dress that several models wore simultaneously, and Moon Boots will be on display in an area focusing on size and form. To bring things back to Earth, a Wonderbra will sit alongside those two items. Little black dresses and pieces associated with "power," like suiting and a Hermès Birkin bag will also be included.
To illustrate modesty, senior curator Paola Antonelli included a range of clothing pieces that span a variety of cultures, including a hijab, a bikini, a very timely slip dress, and leather pants.
The exhibition is set to open on October 1 and will run through January 28, 2018.
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