HomeMy Public PortalAboutLTC 090-2015 Fashion Project Upcoming Exhibitions and Programs 5.22.15AA HA1 OUR
F LO RI DA'SI PA R A D I SE
OFFICE OF THE VILLAGE MANAGER
NO. 090-2015 LETTER TO COUNCIL
TO: Mayor Martin Packer and Members of the Village Council
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, Village Manager "/6P
DATE: May 22, 2015
SUBJECT: Fashion Project Upcoming Exhibitions and Programs
The purpose of this Letter to Council (LTC) is to share with you the Fashion Project
schedule of upcoming exhibitions and programing. The Fashion Project is an experimental
space dedicated to fashion and culture, located on the third level of Bal Harbour Shops.
Attached is a press release provided by the Fashion Project with details on each of the
exhibitions scheduled and below is a list of the dates of those upcoming events:
Exhibitions
Thursday, May 28, 2015 - August 10, 2015 — Morphing
Fashion Project Programs
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 - Talks: Architecture of Fashion (7:00 p.m.)
Friday, June 5, 2015 - Talks: Wearable Objects? Fashion in Art and Design (7:00 p.m.)
Thursday, June 11, 2015 — Balancing Act: The History of High Heels (7:00 p.m.)
Tuesday, June 16, 2015 — 80's Fashion Beyond Shoulder Pads (7:00 p.m.)
Saturday, June 20, 2015 — Sketch (3:00 p.m.)
Tuesday, June 23, 2015 — Haute Couture Ateliers: The Artisans of Fashion (7:00 p.m.)
If you have any questions or need any additional information, please feel free to contact me.
Attachment: Fashion Project Press Release
Bal Harbour Shops
Contact: Jennifer Valdes
Harrison & Shriftman
305-534-0008
ivaldes@hs-or.com
FASHION PROJECT BAL HARBOUR SHOPS
ANNOUNCES JUNE 2015 EXHIBITIONS AND PROGRAMS
BAL HARBOUR, FLORIDA, May 19, 2015—Fashion Project, a new experimental space dedicated to
fashion and the culture of what we wear, announces its June exhibitions and programs. All events are
complimentary, open to the public, and take place on the third level of Bal Harbour Shops unless
otherwise indicated.
FASHION PROJECT EXHIBITIONS
ON VIEW MAY 28—AUGUST 30
FP02: Morphing
FP02: Morphing builds and comments on FP01: The Exhibition by exploring how the same objects on
view in the earlier show can tell alternate stories when they are displayed differently, whether it is
reconfigured display structures, altered mannequins, different accessories, or alternate configurations.
Selecting and showcasing objects in an exhibition inevitably conveys interpretations of those objects,
according to the exhibition's organizer, Judith Clark, acclaimed London -based curator and exhibition -
maker. Part exhibit, part art installation, FP02: Morphing demonstrates how "everyone can have
different stories about the same objects. In museums you never get to see the objects presented
differently. With Fashion Project, we are exploring ideas around display by experimenting with various
ways of presenting the same objects," says Clark.
FASHION PROJECT PROGRAMS
All programs are free and open to the public
WEDNESDAY. JUNE 3.7 PM
FP Talks: Architecture of Fashion
At Red Market Miami Bal Harbour Shops (Level3, near Neiman Marcus)
Architecture influences fashion; fashion influences architecture. What is the architect's role in mediating
the two fields? And how does the individual architect define his or her relationship with fashion? Join
panelists —all noted local architects and designers —Rene Gonzalez, Sam Robin, and Bernard Zyscovich—
for a participatory discussion moderated by John Stuart on the influence of architecture on fashion and
the role of the architect in selling and branding labels. Co -hosted by Fashion Project, Books & Books, and
Red Market Miami. Co -presented by: AIA Miami and Miami Center for Architecture and Design.
About the Speakers:
Rene Gonzalez's work is based on the idea that buildings and spaces impact us and should be designed
to leave a lasting, memorable impression. He is principal of the award -winning firm Rene Gonzalez
Architect —honors include two National American Institute of Architecture Design Awards, twelve Miami
AIA Awards, and one Florida AIA award. Rene is also the recipient of AIA Miami's 2012 H. Samuel Kruse
Silver Medal for Design, and in 2011, RGA received AIA Miami's Firm of the Year award. The firm's work
has been featured in more than two hundred local, national, and international publications.
Sam Robin is an interior designer and principal of Sam Robin Interior Design. She designs residential
projects as well as select commercial spaces, such as the Colony and Astor hotels in South Beach, Joia
Restaurant, 900 Biscayne Bay, Riva Condominium, and the revamping of Delano Hotel's Beach Club. She
has worked nationally and internationally for four decades for clients including Sheik Mohammed of
Dubai, Harry and Leona Hemsley, and Don Johnson, and she designed fifteen stores for Gianni Versace.
She recently launched the furniture gallery Robicara Collezioni in Miami with partner Francesco
Caracciolo di Marano, featuring custom -designed furniture.
John Stuart is associate dean for cultural and community engagement in the FIU College of Architecture
+The Arts, executive director of the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and a professor of architecture. He is
also a practicing architect, an architectural historian, and a visual artist developing collaborative
research projects on complexity, community, identity, technology, the environment, and public space.
His books include: The Gray Cloth, Paul Scheerbart's Novel on Glass Architecture; Ely Jacques Kahn,
Architect: Beaux-Arts to Modernism in New York; and The New Deal in South Florida: Design, Policy and
Community Building, 1933-1940.
Bernard Zyscovich, principal of the award -winning Zyscovich Architects, has been probing the
parameters of design innovation for more than forty years as a dedicated urbanist and preservationist. A
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he is also a recipient of AIA Miami's highest honor, the
Silver Medal Award, for Lifetime Achievement in Design, and his firm was selected as Firm of the Year by
AIA Florida for 2008-09. His writing on urban design and architecture has been published widely, and his
latest book is Getting Real About Urbanism.
FRIDAY, JUNE S. 7 PM
FP: Talks: Wearable Objects? Fashion in Art and Design
At Fashion Project Bo/ Harbour Shops (Level3, near Neiman Marcus)
Where do we draw the line between object and outfit, art and fashion? Katie Stout is a young designer
known for her playful aesthetic and her blurring of lines between art and object —as evidenced in her
stuffed chairs (think teddy bear meets chair), quirky rugs, lamps that look like they're made out of Play -
Doh, and more. Miami -based collector Al Eiber interviews Strout about the objects we wear and use,
versus those we view. Co -hosted by Fashion Project and Gallery Diet.
About the Speakers:
Katie Stout is a Brooklyn -based furniture designer whose work, currently on view at Gallery Diet,
Wynwood has been exhibited widely, including in Milan, Design Miami, Johnson Trading Gallery, and
several galleries in New York City. A 2012 graduate of RISD, she recently won Ellen's (DeGeneres) Design
Challenge.
Al Eiber has been collecting postwar design for the past twenty-five years, with an emphasis on Italian
design. A respected expert on the topic and a frequent lecturer, he maintains the blog
SCOOPONDESIGN. He is a trustee of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and is on the
vetting committee for Design Miami and Design Miami/Basel.
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Balancing Act: The History of High Heels
At Books & Books Bal Harbour Shops (level 3, near Neiman Marcus)
Common sense suggests that footwear should protect our feet and aid our mobility but the high heel
challenges this —it is not a sensible shoe. How did such an impractical shoe come to be a potent signifier
of status and, more importantly, gender? Who invented the high heel and how did it become an item of
fashion? Why did men abandon the high heel after 130 years and how did the high heel then come to be
emblematic of femininity? Elizabeth Semmelhack, senior curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto,
addresses these questions by engaging with a wide range of subjects: East-West trade and the lure of
the exotic; the expression of socio-economic status through impractical dress; and gender politics and
the construction of eroticized femininity. The discussion explores the long and fascinating history of one
of the most complex forms of footwear worn today. The talk is followed by a reception in and sponsored
by Roger Vivier; it is co -presented by Books & Books and hosted by Criselda Breene, John Lin, Daniela
Swaube, and the Bass Museum of Art.
About the Speaker:
Elizabeth Semmelhack is the senior curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. Her work focuses on
the construction of gender in relation to dress with a particular interest in the history of footwear. She
has curated numerous exhibitions with associated publications, including: Standing Tall: The Curious
History of Men in Heels; Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture; Fashion Victims: The Perils and
Pleasures of Dress in the 191h Century; Roger Vivier: Process to Perfection; On a Pedestal: Renaissance
Chopines and Baroque Heels; and Heights of Fashion: A History of the Elevated Shoe. Semmelhack
frequently consults, speaks internationally, and she teaches at the Ryerson University School of Fashion
TUESDAY. JUNE 16.7 PM
'80s Fashion: Beyond Shoulder Pads
At Fashion Project Bal Harbour Shops (Level 3, near Neiman Marcus)
Miss the'80s? Never been but want to visit? Wonder what you might find about the era were you to
dive deep into the University of Miami Libraries? Cristina Favretto, head of Special Collections at the
University of Miami Libraries, discusses fashion of the'80s with a focus on countercultural fashion (think
skatepunk style, skinheads, new Teddy Boys...) and some of the great designers who grew out of that
scene, among them Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, and Jean -Paul Gaultier.
Her discussion highlights —and is illustrated from —the UM Libraries' holdings, including alternative
publications such as The Face, i-D, and Anna Piaggi's Vanity. Enjoy'80s music before and after the talk,
with DJ Jessica Martin. And don't skip the selection of'80s literature curated by Books & Books for the
event.
About the Speaker:
Cristina Favretto is head of Special Collections at the University of Miami Libraries. She has worked in a
variety of bookish capacities at the Boston Public Library, Harvard, Duke, San Diego State University, and
UCLA, curating and building collections on zines, culinary history, surfing, and the pioneering Venetian
Renaissance printer Aldus Manutius, among other topics. She also has had a shadow life as a
performance artist and the lead singer in a post -punk cabaret band. The history of fashion has
fascinated her since childhood. She collects books about the subject, with an emphasis on fashion
eccentrics and rebels.
SATURDAY. JUNE 20.3 PM
FP: Sketch
At Fashion Project Bal Harbour Shops (Level3, near Neiman Marcus)
Join Fashion Project at Bal Harbour Shops for an afternoon of sketching, inspired by the iconic items on
view in its exhibition FP02: Morphing. Visual artists Carlos Prado provides coaching —in English and
Spanish —for all levels of experience, from novice to professional. Subject matter ranges from the
exhibition's unusual design to the experimental works from the past century on view, including pieces
by Leon Bakst, Elsa Schiaparelli, Alexander Mcqueen, Hussein Chalayan, and others. Drawing materials
provided; suggested for ages 12 and above. Admission is free.
Haute Couture Ateliers: The Artisans of Fashion
At Books & Books Bal Harbour Shops (level 3, near Neiman Marcus)
Author Helene Farnault and haute couture designer Oscar Carvallo discuss the world of fashion design
and its artisans, the topic of Farnault's new book, Haute Couture Ateliers: The Artisans of Fashion.
Behind the scenes at every great couture house —from Chanel, Valentino, Dior, and Givency to Yves
Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, and Jean Paul Gaultier—is a skilled team of artisans who turn fashion dreams
into reality. Farnault's exquisitely illustrated book provides a privileged tour of couture's backstage,
inhabited not only by exceptional designers but also by lace makers, leather makers, embroiderers,
feather workers, and many other specialized craftspeople. This is a world of small, family -owned
workshops, and the trades these artisans practice are ancient. This event is co -presented by the Cultural
Services of the French Embassy in the U.S. and is part of the recently launched French Corner at Books &
Books.
About the Speakers:
Helene Farnault's diverse career includes ten years as a professor of French literature before working as
the head of communication for a private corporation. She then worked for France's Ministry of Culture
for over thirteen years, supporting and sustaining the rare crafts at the heart of the arts and fashion
industries. The core of her mission was to preserve these "living human treasures" and ensure the
transmission of their skills and workmanship, as well as to foster innovation through the development of
new technologies and partnerships with contemporary artists, designers, architects, and researchers.
Passionate about the artisans and their trades, Helene Farnault now works as a consultant in the field
and continues to promote them in France and abroad. She has produced and curated numerous
exhibitions — largely in France, but also in Switzerland and China. Her first book, Artisans' Craft, French
Excellence, was published in 2011.
Venezualan-born, Parisian -based Oscar Carvallo, a haute couture designer, was trained as a lawyer
before switching to fashion design and becoming known as "L'Enfant Terrible de Caracas." He
established a successful business in Venezuela with very little fashion training, and then attended
Milan's Domus Academy to formally learn fashion design. He moved to Paris in 2003 after graduating,
first opening a boutique and soon closing it in favor of devoting himself to haute couture. His work is
known for its unique, personal, often theatrical qualities and his attentiveness to the female form.
ABOUT FASHION PROJECT
Fashion Project is an experimental cultural space on the third level of the luxury retail destination Bal
Harbour Shops. Fashion Project is devoted to curatorial projects and programs that explore and
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celebrate fashion and the culture surrounding its design, innovation, production, and consumption. An
initiative of Bal Harbour Shops, it was conceptualized and developed by Cathy Leff, previously director of
The Wolfsonian—FIU. Fashion Project is collaborating with groundbreaking London -based curator and
exhibition -maker Judith Clark. The result? Thought -provoking exhibitions, programs, and activities that
approach the world of and around fashion through a multidisciplinary lens and explore boundaries
between fashion, design, art, consumer culture, and costume culture. Fashion Project is open noon-
8pm Monday through Saturday and noon-6pm Sunday. www.fashionpro'ectbhs.com
ABOUT BAL HARBOUR SHOPS
Opened in 1965 by retail visionary Stanley Whitman, Bal Harbour Shops was the first all -luxury fashion
center featuring high -end retailers in a tropical, open-air setting. Bal Harbour Shops quickly became the
most exclusive shopping destination in the nation, with record -setting sales, and it has remained the
industry leader for 50 years. In 2012, Bal Harbour Shops topped the list as the world's most productive
shopping center, based on sales per square foot, according to data compiled by the International Council
of Shopping Centers. Three generations of the Whitman family remain steadfast in their shared vision
for this fashion mecca and its continued success. www.balharbourshops.com