Touch Me: Feeling Fashion

Fashion is immediately associated with looks, and its popularity thrives in our current culture of image, reinforcing an aesthetic that is quintessentially visual. The works in Touch Me: Feeling Fashion challenge such a claim by exploring the connection between how fashion touches us—clothes on our bodies—and how we feel about it, both individually and socially.

Exhibiting artists Erika Diamond, Nadia Liz Estela, Susanne Goetz and Theanne Schiros, Kristen Kaas, Ani Liu, Jean Shin, Alison Weld, and Irmandy Wicaksono explore remnants, self-portraiture, identity, skins, new materials, and notions of protection. Sustainable designs by Petit Pli and functional garments from the collection of Cora Ginsburg LLC flesh out the past and future of designing for the necessity of touch. We expect the synergy of these perspectives to encourage a more mindful approach to the thinking and wearing of fashion.

Opening reception:

• Wednesday, February 28, 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts

Curator-led Tour:

• Wednesday, February 28, 4:30 p.m., South Gallery, Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts
• Thursday, March 7, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., South Gallery, Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts

Textile Biomaterials-Ancient and Modern:

Susanne Goetz, FIT and Theanne Schiros, PhD, FIT/Columbia University

• Monday, March 11, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., South Gallery, Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts