By Dorothy Shinn
Beacon Journal art and architecture critic
The Massillon Museum’s current exhibit, Another Look at the New Look, purports to be an examination of the work of French couturier Christian Dior.
Lest you go to Massillon in the wild expectation of seeing real Dior gowns, let me say right up front, in the words of Alexandra Nicholis, museum executive director, “none of them are Dior gowns.”
Taupe and white striped fitted cocktail dress (2011) by Sweet P Vaughn. This modern interpretation of the New Look references Dior's design elements in the accentuated waist and rose embellishments. Sweet P appeared on Project Runway Season 4, made it to the top five and was given a show in Bryant Park for Fall Fashion week 2008. Featured at the Massillon Museum through now through Feb. 12, 2012.
I kept asking Nicholis “Is this a Dior gown?” until she said that there were none. “We do have a Dior hat up there,” she said nodding toward the upper level of the gallery where a display of period hats was arranged.
The Miss Dior hat with veil (made in Italy) notwithstanding, all the gowns are knockoffs, or made in imitation of Dior, or vaguely in the Dior style, some by named designers — “If we have the designer’s name, we put that,” Nicholis explained, “and if they were home sewn, we put that” — and some homemade.
Here we have a slippery slope of not exactly bait and switch, but a situation in which the publicity implies one thing while the exhibit delivers something else.
All this is not to say that Another Look is a terrible show. It’s not. It’s nicely presented and well staged with period garments carefully draped over the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “donated” mannequins.
“We got wind that the Met was throwing out all their mannequins,” Nicholis confided. “So we took a truck to New York and picked them up. We then chose the best of the lot — they were a bit beat up — and repaired them.”
What this show actually is, is a combination of materials — some from the museum’s own collection, some from Kent State University, some from designers who were contestants on the TV reality show Project Runway.
Not all of the materials reflect Dior designs, moreover. Some of them reflect Chanel, others the “youthquake” of the 1960s, including miniskirts, jumpsuits and loose shift dresses.
Selections from the museum’s collection form the backbone of the exhibit and are organized chronologically from 1940 to 1965. Within this show is a second show of Project Runway designs created just for this exhibit.
Winding up the exhibit are contemporary Dior interpretations by students enrolled in the Fashion School at Kent State University who were challenged to recreate the “New Look.” The top three designs were chosen for display with the winner’s design (chosen by those who attended the show opening) taken into the museum’s permanent collection.
The exhibit purports to “explore the ways in which fashion responded to the cultural changes and social demands of a post-World War II world.”
Exhibit organizers say the show “examines the precedents, the backlash, and the antecedents of Dior’s highly feminine silhouette. It features clothing worn by the average woman for everyday wear, showing how the silhouette was adapted for different garments. … An accessible and versatile wasp-waisted silhouette, the New Look was one that complemented a variety of physiques, emphasizing feminine curves,” exhibit organizers write.
There’s even a short video that shows French designers and fashion insiders who talk about Dior and what a scandal he created by designing dresses that used “30 meters of material,” an unheard-of extravagance in those postwar days.
What isn’t said in either the exhibit or the video is what Dior biographers have widely written about and broadly hinted at — that Dior was backed, from stem to stern by all accounts, by French textile magnate Marcel Boussac, at the time France’s wealthiest man. And who better to benefit from extravagant uses of fabric than a manufacturer of textiles?
The designer introduced his first and most famous line — dubbed the “New Look” by Carmel Snow of Harper’s Bazaar — in 1947. The collection was a “striking refutation of the war’s deprivation” and despite all the criticism — even staged protests, according to the video — was an immediate success. Knockoff artists and home seamstresses soon began reproducing the look more affordably, as the exhibit shows.
However, little history is provided for those who attend this show. There’s an entire backstory to Dior’s life and legend that hasn’t been even the least bit examined in a show that purports to examine him, his influence and most famous line.
I hesitate to criticize this effort, for I realize the constraints under which Nicholis and the Massillon Museum operate. However, it must be said that it’s much better to clearly state the facts of an exhibit rather than have disappointed visitors who expect one show but get another.
And if you’re going to dance around the lack of actual Diors in a show about Dior by trying to dazzle us with Project Runway designers and a KSU fashion contest, the least that could be offered is a thorough history of Dior.
The Massillon Museum has a wonderful collection of period clothes. There would have been nothing at all wrong — or disappointing — with a show about post-World War II fashion as reflected by that collection.
That’s basically what they did anyway. They just didn’t say so.
Dorothy Shinn writes about art and architecture for the Akron Beacon Journal. Send information to her at the Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640 or dtgshinn@neo.rr.com.
Here is what I read when I looked up an advertisement about the exhibit:
“Event Time: All Day
Fashions from the Massillon Museum’s permanent collection reinterpreted by guest curator Steven Rosengard (Project Runway, Season Four). The exhibition will open on Saturday, January 21, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. with a free, public reception. ”
There is nothing within this ad that would lead the visitor to believe that real Diors would be available to view. ” Bait and switch ” seems like an unfair criticism to print. Perhaps there are other advertisements that promised such would be true, but if not, I believe you were entirely too harsh in your assessment.
From Indeonline.com:
” Inspired by the Massillon Museum’s collection of gowns from the post-World War II era, Rosengard fashioned an exhibit that pays homage to Christian Dior…..
“Through the exhibit, Rosengard put his own spin on Dior’s classic looks, fusing the “New Look” with new ideas. The exhibit features garments from the museum’s permanent collection as well as original designs from Kent State University fashion students and a few “Project Runway” designers. “
Inspired by Christian Dior! Nowhere was it ever advertised as containing Christian Dior clothing. Why would you focus on the fact there was no Christian Dior clothing? When the idea of the exhibit, “Another Look at the New Look” was not to stock the museum with a bunch of Dior clothing. What would that have to do with Massillon?
“Another Look at the New Look” was about the influence Christian Dior’s post-war fashion design had on fashion during that era, all over the world… from paris (the fashion capital of the world) to the small city of Massillon, Ohio and how without historical influences like Dior’s fashion would not be where it is today. Having the Project Runway designers there was not only an added excitement to the exhibit, but also another example of how fashion history has inspired and influenced some of the most brilliant minds in fashion today. Describing the roles of the Kent State fashion students and Project Runway designers in the show as a ” dance around the lack of actual Diors” is ridiculous.
I’m not an artist, nor a fashion guru… But I did attend the event. The show was full of energy and conveyed the concept to the public as intended. Someone who writes a column on art should surely be able to interpret this show. You simply misinterpreted. It’s sad though, because your misinterpretation led to a very negative article being printed on a very positive event.
Did the critic read the same material that I did? Nowhere was I given the impression that this was a Dior show or art history display and analysis of Dior’s fashions. The article was mean-spirited, and the comment “bait and switch” was inappropriate and appalling for an art critic of Shinn’s stature. In a time when museums need community support and young artists need exposure and encouragement, Shinn’s article was disappointing and myopic. The Massillon Museum is creative and moving beyond traditional boundaries as it explores new views of art in our area.Ms Nicholis and her staff are to be congratulated for their courage and imagination. I loved the connection between Massillon and New York, one that bodes well for future relationships.
I look forward to attending this exciting show, and from my reading of the online literature, I do not expect to see Dior gowns. My expectation is a view of the “New Look” from young designers as they explore the everyday fashions of the post-war period.
I agree. Shinn truly proved herself to be a lazy, misinformed journalist. Not only did she make herself out to be rude and ignorant, she also incorrectly represented the museum’s show. I am from Akron, but frequently attend many events in Massillon and Canton. I was at the exhibit Another Look at the New Look and no where did it say “Dior” on display. It was actually a wonderful evening.
Shinn should appologize to Ms. Nicholis for targeting her in this review (and I believe it was Steven Rosengard who curated this exhibit. Not Nicholis.)
She should also rewrite the review to properly represent the exhibit.
I will respond to the following excerpt of your lengthy criticism of the Massillon Museum’s exhibit “Another Look at the New Look”:
I quote you here…”I hesitate to criticize this effort, for I realize the constraints under which Nicholis and the Massillon Museum operate. However, it must be said that it’s much better to clearly state the facts of an exhibit rather than have disappointed visitors who expect one show but get another.”
I attended the gallery opening with a few girlfriends. We arrived early and stayed late. I mingled with many of the attendees and museum staff, as well as guest curator, Steven Rosengard. It was exciting to see how many visitors were wearing vintage clothing. I spoke to people who’s families had donated fine clothing to the museum and they were so thrilled to see it in the exhibit. I spoke to regular museum goers who loved the way the exhibit was displayed, against the soft flowing fabric backdrop, with placards at each item containing information about the piece. I spoke to college students from Kent State who were supporting the designers who’s gowns were the finalists in the “New Look” competition. I spoke to many who had attended only because of the link to Project Runway. Not one person that I spoke to during the evening mentioned that they were expecting to see actual Christian Dior dresses to be on display and were disappointed that they were not.
There was plenty of press leading up to the opening:
The Massillon Independent newspaper had a nice article entitled “Massillon Museum prepares its own Project Runway” Under the headline NEW INTERPRETATIONS it reads “Inspired by the Massillon Museum’s collection of gowns from the post-World War II ear, Rosengard fashioned an exhibit that pays homage to Christian Dior, a fashion industry icon who, with his collection that debuted in 1947, gave the world new perspectives” …
”Through the exhibit, Rosengard put his own spin on Dior’s classic looks, fusing the “New Look” with new ideas. The exhibit features garments from the museum’s permanent collection as well as designs from Kent State University fashion students and a few “Project Runway” designers.”
In the Independent’s “Around Town” section it reads: “The February “Do the Mu” at the Massillon Museum will complement “Another Look at the New Look”, the current exhibition. The exhibition is inspired by French designer Christian Dior’s 1949 debut collection, “The New Look”. Post war America welcomed that wasp-waisted silhouette, as fabric rationing ended and many women relinquished their factory jobs. The New Look celebrated the newly-in-vogue domestic sphere.”
Possibly you read the article in the Canton Repository, which could be misleading if you read selective passages and took the words “influential Dior collection” out of context. If so, the full paragraphs read as follows: “This influential Dior collection is the starting-off point for a new show opening Saturday at the Massillon Museum, titled “Another Look at the New Look” and guest curated by Rosengard” It continues… “Gallery visitors will see garments worn by everyday women on the streets of downtown Massillon, a lot purchased in local dress shops in Massillon and Canton” says Coon. “It demonstrates how something as iconic and pioneering as the “New Look” impacted not just couture fashion but everyday style”. Further along “To involve and encourage area design talent, the Massillon Museum launched a “New Look”-related competition among fashion students at Kent State University. From their submitted sketches, three finalists were chosen and each created an evening dress that will be unveiled at the show’s Saturday opening”.
Had I only had access to what appeared in our local newspapers I would have expected exactly what I saw in the exhibition; vintage fashion belonging to the museum, specially designed gowns from the Kent University Fashion students, and creations from Project Runway designers made especially for this event. However, since I am a new member of the Massillon Museum, I received a promotional postcard which read:
“Another Look at the New Look”
Opening Jan 21, free, open to everyone, no reservations. Steven Rosengard, guest curator.
How did fashion respond to the cultural and social demands of a post-war world?
Inspired by French designer Christian Dior’s iconic 1947 New Look, this exhibition examines the impact of his highly feminine silhouette. See selections from the Museum’s permanent collection, organized chronologically from 1940 to 1965. Supplementing the Museum’s collection will be garments created by designers – Jack Mackenroth, Valarie Mayan, Sweet P Vaugh and Carmen Webber – from reality television series Project Runway especially for this exhibition. The timeline of historic garments will conclude with contemporary interpretations by students enrolled in The Fashion School at Kent State University. Another Look is curated by Steven Rosengard – a Season 4 Project Runway contestant and the Assistant Curator at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago.”
I admit that I attended mainly to meet the Project Runway designers, as I have been a fan since season 1. However, I had no expectations, based on what I had read, that this exhibition was one comprised of original Christian Dior dresses. It simply was not advertised as a collection of Christian Dior dresses.
What I also didn’t expect was how wonderful an atmosphere existed in the museum, the gracious way the guests were greeted and treated, the enthusiasm of the visitors, many wearing fabulous vintage dresses themselves, the courteous and beautiful museum staff, who were like living parts of the exhibition, and the number of people who came to the opening. It was wall to wall. Everyone talking with each other and flocking around designer and guest curator, Steven Rosengard. People could simply not get enough of his delightful personality, willingness to sign autographs and take photos (which were professionally taken, I might add).
So, I absolutely must say that you really missed the point in your unflattering critique of this event. Your expectation of seeing a Christian Dior collection was unfounded. You missed the point that the Massillon Museum staff created an exhibit with what the museum already owned and displayed it in a fresh and exciting way by inviting the designers from Project Runway and also the Fashion Design students. A person would be hard pressed to find something as wonderful as this was. Young teenagers through stunningly fashionable seniors all enjoying an evening rich in Massillon and Canton history.
I will go so far as to say that I felt that your critique was mean-spirited and appeared to intentionally turn people away from attending. I think that however it came about, you did not clearly understand what the exhibit was offering.
If the job of a museum staff is to create excitement about what they have to offer and to display their items to the best advantage and to do this in an atmosphere where the visitors are treated as treasured guests and to blend the old with the new to encourage the younger generation to become involved in their local history, then on all counts this exhibit is a huge success. I feel sorry for those readers who you have discouraged from attending.
In my opinion, your criticism of this exhibition missed by a mile!