Fashion in the early decades of the twentieth century, was a time of transition as designers broke away from centuries of tradition in an embrace of modernity and freedom in dress. This spirit of change and experimentation was felt across the globe.
Hear from leading specialists in sessions dedicated to the evolution of the sari in India, the kimono in Japan, and haute couture and stage costume in the work of Sonia Delaunay and Natalia Goncharova.
THE OFFBEAT SARI
Priya Khanchandani
Worn as an everyday garment by some and considered by others to be formal or uncomfortable, the sari has multiple definitions. Conventionally an unstitched drape wrapped around the body, which can be draped in a variety of ways, its unfixed form has enabled it to morph and absorb changing cultural influences. In recent years, the sari has been reinvented. Designers are experimenting with hybrid forms such as sari gowns and dresses, pre-draped saris and innovative materials such as steel. Young people in cities who used to associate the sari with dressing up can now be found wearing saris and sneakers on their commutes to work. Individuals are wearing the sari as an expression of resistance to social norms and activists are embodying it as an object of protest. Today, the sari in urban India manifests as a site for design innovation, an expression of identity, and a crafted object carrying layers of cultural meanings. Learn about the sari as a metaphor for the complex definitions of India today.
Priya Khanchandani is a curator, writer and broadcaster specialising in contemporary design, educated at the Royal College of Art and at Cambridge University. Until recently the Head of Curatorial at the Design Museum in London, her exhibitions include The Offbeat Sari with a book published with Thames and Hudson. Previously the first female Editor in Chief of architecture magazine Icon, she was nominated for Fiona Macpherson New Editor of the Year, and as a critic she has published widely in books and in publications like The Financial Times, the Guardian, Wallpaper* and Frieze. She appears regularly in the UK broadcast media, lectures internationally and is a trustee of The Hepworth Wakefield.
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FASHION, COMMODITY, AND THE MODERN: THE FEMALE IMAGE IN 20TH CENTURY JAPAN
Nozomi Naoi
During the early twentieth century, Japan experienced radical social and political change brought about by the effects of modernization, urbanization, and Westernization. Images of women and their fashion responded to this cultural climate by embracing both modernity and traditional Japanese aesthetics. Beauty prints and advertisement are especially important, and this talk will examine the production, reception, and interpretation of the female imagery with particular attention to fashion from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries as well as how they connect to visual media in Japan today.
Nozomi Naoi is Associate Professor of Art History at Yale-NUS College with joint appointment at the Department of Japanese Studies at the National University of Singapore. She received her PhD from Harvard University in 2014. She specializes in modern Japanese art and visual culture and is the author of Yumeji Modern: Designing the Everyday in Twentieth-Century Japan (University of Washington Press, 2020; awarded the Honorable Mention for the John Whitney Hall Prize 2022). She is preparing her second book, Modern Design and the Japanese Department Store (under advance contract with MIT Press) and is also co-curator of “Made in Japan: 20th-Century Poster Art” (Poster House Museum, New York, 2023).
ATTIRE OF THE AVANT-GARDE: COUTURE AND STAGE COSTUME IN THE ART OF SONIA DELAUNAY AND NATALIA GONCHAROVA
Despite pursuing distinctively individual creative paths, Sonia Delaunay and Natalia Goncharova were united in their endeavour to overcome the limitations imposed by artistic traditions. Their medium-transcending practices encompassed haute couture and stage costume in a an effortless and ingenious way, proving that their art of color had the potential to enter everyday life and modernize fashion in the process.
Waleria Dorogova is an independent historian and curator working internationally at the intersection of art, design and fashion history. She holds a doctorate from the University of Bonn, and her dissertation presents the first-ever history of the couture house Boué Sœurs. As a specialist in the work of Sonia Delaunay, she co-curated the exhibitions Maison Sonia (Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2022) and Sonia Delaunay: Living Art (Bard Graduate Center, 2024).
This is the second session in the three-part series: Observations: Dress in Art and Design History.
Book into all three Observations sessions
With a focus on the NGV’s leading Collection of historical art, fashion and textiles, historians, writers and curators from around the world examine the movements, makers and moments that shaped and were shaped by dress across the centuries across three sessions.
The entire collection of presentations, conversations and lectures will be transcribed into a printed publication, giving audiences the opportunity to revisit the content from Observations: Dress in Art and Design History. Participants can pre-purchase a copy of the book, set to be released in March 2025, when booking.
NGV Members, students and educators enjoy discounted tickets to all Observations sessions.
Full program and speakers announced soon. Participants will have access to content for four weeks following the release date.
INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS & EDUCATORS
Observations offers an inspiring and creative professional learning opportunity for teachers of all levels and subjects. Observations meets the following AITSL standards:
• Know the content and how to teach it (2.1)
• Engage in professional learning (6.1)
A certificate of professional learning is available on request.
Observations: Dress in Art & Design History is generously supported by an Anonymous donor.