SCAD Plans Three Fashion-based Museum Shows

This fall might seem miles away having just passed the midway point of summer, but the change in seasons will be a welcome turning point for the Savannah College of Art & Design’s two museums.

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Director of fashion exhibitions Rafael Brauer Gomes and other SCAD representatives previewed three fall exhibitions Wednesday morning in New York at Mostrador in the Walker Hotel. First up will be “Isabel Toledo, A Love Letter,” which will bow Aug. 13 and run through Dec. 16 at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah. The independent Cuban-American designer is widely known for suiting up former first lady Michelle Obama for her husband Barack’s first inauguration in 2009.

Toledo’s artist and illustrator husband Rubin, who has championed her work since her death five years ago, was doing just that at Wednesday’s event. The upcoming show “conjures up what Isabel thought about design” and Savannah museum goers will feel as though they are looking at one of her sketchbooks, he said. The walls will be covered with sketches that inspired her and quotes that did too. They will also find designs that she had personally worn and designs that she considered to be important, her husband said.

An early version of the designer’s “packing dress” from the 1970s, which consisted of two circles of fabric sewn together, is his favorite in the show. It started out as a handbag and evolved into a sleeve before becoming a dress. The name refers to the ease with which the garment can be packed for travel without worrying about ironing upon arrival. “She took it through so many evolutions and perfected it so many times. That expresses to me how she thought about design,” he said.

The Toledo show will feature Pucci mannequins that the designer helped make, as well as artwork from her husband and a 10-minute short film about the creative duo.

In September, the model-turned-designer Imane Ayissi will have his first museum exhibition at SCAD FASH Museum + Film in Atlanta. Debuting Sept. 18, “Imane Ayissi, From Africa to the World,” will be on view until Feb. 23. Born in Cameroon, the designer is a guest of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. Zendaya and Angela Bassett are among the celebrities whom Ayissi has dressed for the red carpet. His unusual combinations include Lyon silk and Madagascar-sourced handwoven raffia. “It’s a very interesting approach that he has. I especially love it, when he mixes African fabrics from many different countries in one look,” said Gomes.

Ayissi’s unconventional use of fabrics should be of particular interest to the many SCAD students who typically check out its shows, Gomes said.

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This fall’s third show will turn the spotlight on three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell at SCAD FASH. Spanning more than 27 films that the British talent worked on including “Shakespeare in Love,” “The Aviator,” and “The Young Victoria,” the exhibition will bow on Oct. 11 and be up through March 16. Angels Costumes is loaning some of the pieces that will be featured in “Sandy Powell.” Emphasizing how film companies and leading actors now know the value of costumes and are more inclined to stow them away than repurpose them or use them for other productions, as some used to do, Gomes said the team is trying to borrow a few costumes from Robert De Niro, “who keeps all of the costumes from his films.” He added, “Renée Zellweger has an archive that is insane. It’s super organized and has barcodes. They all know the importance of costumes now.”

Recalling a visit to Angels with Powell and her assistant, Gomes compared its spaciousness to that of an airplane hangar, he said. “There are almost three layers of gigantic racks. There are 1,800 blouses — white, purple…” Such vastness can make piecing together original costumes tricky. “Then we started the hunt. Going through all the shoes, we thought, ‘This is hopeless.’” he said, “‘Velvet Goldmine’ [items] designs were easy to find, because it was so unique [aesthetically.]”

Powell is lending a few costumes too, as are select collectors like the Los Angeles-based Larry McQueen. “He lends a lot [of costumes] to museums. They are pristine and [are shipped] in acid-free boxes,” Gomes said.

While pitching in with the exhibition preparations in the U.S., Powell was also busy doing fittings for the live-action adaption of the 1937 Disney animated film ”Snow White,” which is due out next year. That involved fine-tuning looks for the rapidly growing prepubescent actress Emilia Faucher, who portrays the young version of the fictional character, Gomes said.

The Powell-centered show will also have ample illustrations, and the setting of Atlanta is prime, according to Gomes. “It should be a very strong exhibition. So much is happening with the film industry in Atlanta with Tyler Perry’s studio and other studios as well,” said Gomes, who noted how the state of Georgia has been using tax incentives to try to woo more filmmakers from Los Angeles.

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