RAVISHING: THE ROSE IN FASHION SYMPOSIUM

 This virtual event will be The Museum at FIT’s 24th academic symposium. Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion explores how the beauty, mythology, and symbolism of the rose have long influenced fashionable dress. Rose: it's a flower, a color, and a scent. It's in fairy tales and design. This flower has become integral to art and culture.

Speakers include Amy de la Haye, professor at London College of Fashion and cocurator of the exhibition; Jonathan Faiers, professor of Fashion Thinking at Winchester School of Art; Colleen Hill, curator at MFIT and cocurator of the exhibition; Mairi MacKenzie, research fellow at Glasgow School of Art; and Elizabeth Way, assistant curator at MFIT.

Noir Kei Ninomiya, ensemble, red wool, resin-treated faux fur, nylon, spring 2020. Photograph © Noir Kei Ninomiya, photograph courtesy Comme des Garçons.

Ravishing: The Rose in Fashion presents the first socio-cultural examination of the rose in fashion. This flower can be dated back over 3 million years, and its broad geographic sweep is entwined with stories of trade, immigration, politics, religion, gender, food, beauty, and identity. It has been worshipped and reviled, and it is inextricably linked to perceptions of love. Not surprisingly, this delicate and fragrant flower — as well its sharp thorns — have provided endless inspiration for artists, writers, and designers. The rose has greatly influenced the form and decoration of apparel, jewelry, and fashion imagery.

Ravishing will explore the significance of the rose in fashion and dressed appearance from circa 1750 to the present. More than seventy-five objects will be selected for their historic and aesthetic significance in addition to their broader symbolic, socio-economic, and geo-political importance. The exhibition is curated by Amy de la Haye, Rootstein Hopkins Chair of Dress History and Curatorship and Joint Director of the Centre for Fashion Curation at London College of Fashion, and Colleen Hill, curator of costume and accessories at The Museum at FIT.

The exhibition is accompanied by the Yale University Press publication The Rose in Fashion: Ravishing which includes an introduction by MFIT director and chief curator Dr. Valerie Steele, and a chapter by Colleen Hill. This blog post by Amy de la Haye gives readers a taste of the book and offers a free extract of Chapter IV – “The Rose: The Unfading Flower of Jewellery” by Geoffrey Munn.

https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/exhibitions/upcoming/index.php