1950's 'Campus' blue & gray striped gabardine jacket
1950's 'Sports Chief' navy & white flecked linen jacket
Circa 1956 Sears catalog spreads for men & boys
Popularized by Ricky Ricardo to the extent that we now refer to them as 'Ricky' jackets
1950's gray 2-tone flecked wool jacket
1950's Indian/arrow novelty print quilted boy's jacket
1950's reversible striped boy's jacket
1950's 'Calbert' orange/white houndstooth gabardine jacket
1950's 'Shapely' red/white flecked wool shirt
Robert Di Camerino in the 1950's with her trademark velvet handbags
Roberta Di Camerino is one such designer who never really became a household name, but who holds a special place in the hearts of the fashion cognoscenti, and vintage collectors alike. She is most famous for her richly colored velvet handbags, and her interesting use of trompe l'oeil effects that appear as pleats, buttons, buckles, saddle stitching, pockets and other details, but are in fact printed onto the textiles.
Founding her fashion house in 1945, Roberta Di Camerino was an innovator of her time, using richly patterned and colored fabrics for her handbags that had previously only been used for clothing. In 1946 she made a bag patterned with a trellis of 'R's', foreshadowing Gucci's 'G's', and is widely credited with creating the status bag concept. Like many of her Italian predecessors and contemporaries, she utilized traditional artisans and craftsmen of her native Venice. The hardware on her bags were made by the same artisans who made fine bronze hardware for Venetian gondolas, and she used the two hundred year old firm 'Bevilaqua' of central Venice to create her velvet textiles on hand operated looms. Here are some Camerino pieces we'll be bringing to the show this week...
1960's Roberta Di Camerino signature velvet trompe l'oeil purse
1960's Roberta Di Camerino trompe l'oeil belt knit dress
1960's/70's Roberta Di Camerino multi color trompe l'oeil pleat knit dress
1960s never worn silver go-go boots, 1960s/70s never worn purple suede & mesh go-go boots, 1970s 'Made in England' yellow leather platform boots.
1960s never worn red vinyl ankle boots, 1960s/70s never worn gold lace-up boots
1960s 'Made in England' over-the-knee white go-go boots, 1970s/80s over-the-knee burgundy suede boots
Comme des Garcons at the Japan Fashion Now exhibit
The exhibit, titled Japan Fashion Now is focused on contemporary Japanese fashion but sets the stage with a gallery of 1980s garments from the groundbreaking Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo (of the aforementioned Comme des Garcons), and Yohji Yamamoto. I was lucky enough to attend a tour of the exhibit led by Dr. Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator of the Museum. She shared her memories of just how shocking the work of this troika was even to the fashion community. It wasn't just the women on the street who balked, fashion industry peers were shaking their heads too.
Here's a great video interview with Dr. Steele that includes a quick glimpse at the 1980s gallery:
Miyake, Kawakubo and Yamamoto were the first non-Western designers to have a major impact on global contemporary fashion when they showed in Paris in the early 1980s. Their collections were a sea of black and navy with the occasional taupe. Very few fashion lovers are shocked to see all black ensembles today, but at the time such a palette was revolutionary. And speaking of revolutionary, the deconstructionism these three championed was a huge departure from Western couture tradition. Oversized, asymmetrical, garments with distressed and unfinished details are now regular fixture of not only runway fashion, but also in subtler form at retailers in malls across the globe.
I was pleasantly surprised to see tucked in the back corner of the gallery a traditional Japanese textile and pieces from Hanae Mori and Kenzo who helped lay the foundation in 1970s Paris for the recognition of their countrymen (and women). This provided a fantastic bridge to the main gallery, which I encourage vintage lovers to visit particularly for the great men's workwear section and Han Ahn Soon's take on Yves Saint Laurent, the Hello Kitty Mondrian dress. And if you appreciate future vintage as well, one of my personal favorites was the skull motif in Jun Takahasi's Undercover.
By Amie Kershbaum
The Japan Fashion Now exhibit at the Museum at FIT is extended through April 2nd 2011.
Thanks to AMT customer and guest blogger Amie Kershbaum! With your appetites for vintage Japanese fashions sufficiently wetted, here are some pieces we'll be bringing to next month's Manhattan Vintage Show :
1980s 'Hanae Mori' asymmetrical wool jacket
1980s 'Kenzo' drop waisted cotton dress
1980s 'Hiroko Koshino' black & white knit cardigan
1980s 'Midori Matsumoto' embroidered denim puff-sleeve jacket
