Yuima Nakazato, Atlas collection (Photo Credit: Yuima Nakazato, FashionUnited)
From breathtaking designs to influential cultural trends and historic events, the world of fashion is as vast as it is captivating.
One of the best ways to understand the factors that have shaped modern fashion and to appreciate the work of influential designers is to see their creations up close. This summer, there are many exciting museum exhibits worldwide, offering a deep dive into these fascinating aspects of fashion.
Here, we’ll highlight seven exciting exhibits. Whether you live nearby or are planning a cultural addition to an upcoming trip, these exhibits offer a unique opportunity to explore the evolution of fashion and the stories behind the designs. Read on to discover which fashion exhibits to add to your itinerary this summer and prepare to be inspired by the diverse history and innovative designs in the world of fashion.
Yuima Nakazoto: Beyond Couture
Museum of Lace and Fashion, Calais, France
June 15, 2024, – January 5, 2025
Japanese designer Yuima Nakazato has created an innovative and visionary world by merging tradition with a use of new technologies and textiles. As an advocate for crafting a sustainable world through fashion, he uses innovative materials and methods and draws from nature for inspiration to create his bespoke designs. Nakazato’s exhibition offers a step inside his futuristic vision and commitment to eco-conscious fashion.
From Yuima Nakazato’s Autumn/Winter 2023 Magma collection at the exhibition entitled Nakazoto: Beyond Couture. (Photo Credit: Victor Jacques Sebb-Yuima for Museum of Lace and Fashion, Calais and mannequin Madeleine Bax)
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Balenciaga: Character
Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum, Getaria, Spain
March 1, 2024 – January 19, 2024
The Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum has curated an exhibit to showcase Balenciaga’s influential brand from an “unexplored perspective.” With a display of 90 different garments, museum goers can examine and appreciate the structural nature and technical detail that have set Balenciaga apart.
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Looks from the Balenciaga: Character exhibit (Photo Credit: Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum)
NAOMI: In Fashion
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
June 22, 2024 – April 6, 2025
Opening in the end of June, this exhibit will give a deep look into model Naomi Campbell’s impressive career. This exhibit will give a unique look at the fashion industry through highlighting designers and creatives that played a role in Naomi’s career, including Azzedine Alaïa, Vivienne Westwood, and Jean Paul Gaultier. With around 100 looks from top designers, this exhibition celebrates Campbell’s cultural impact and activism, offering a glimpse into four decades of fashion and influence.
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Looks from NAOMI: In Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (Image Credit: Victoria and Albert Museum)
Icons of British Fashion
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, UK
March 23, 2024 – June 30, 2024
Don’t miss out on Blenheim Palace’s largest exhibit to date, which highlights many of Britain’s most influential names in history. Giving a room to each designer, this expansive exhibition will show visitors not only a wide selection of designs, but the history and impact of each designer, including Vivienne Westwood, Jean Muir, Terry de Havilland, Bruce Oldfield, Turnbull & Asser, Zandra Rhodes, Lulu Guinness, Barbour, Alice Temperley, Stella McCartney and Stephen Jones Millinery for Christian Dior – an impressive list!
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Vivienne Westwood exhibit at Blenheim Palace (Photo Credit: Paul Allen, Forbes)
Modern Ritual: The Art of Mary McFadden
Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA
May 11, 2024 – October 11, 2024
Explore the world of American fashion icon Mary McFadden at Drexel University this summer/fall. From her signature Marii pleating to hand-painted textiles, this exhibition showcases 40 meticulously crafted garments as well as drawings that show the stories behind the pieces. Visitors will leave with deeper insight and appreciation into McFadden’s influence on American fashion.
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Look from the Mary McFadden fashion exhibit, Modern Ritual: The Art of Mary McFadden at Drexel University (Photo Credit: Drexel University)
Joyce J. Scott/ Walk a Mile in My Dreams
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Md.
March 24, 2024-July 14, 2024
American artist Joyce J. Scott comes from a long line of makers in her family who created beautiful, functional objects in their quest for freedom out of slavery, sharecropping, migration, and segregation. Scott uses mediums including beadwork, sculpture, textiles, jewelry and printmaking to address challenging yet important topics such as racial and social inequality. This exhibit showcases her prolific career through nearly 140 different objects. Immerse yourself in her world, vision and storytelling at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Joyce J. Scott, Buddha Gives Basketball to the Ghetto is a humorous exaggeration of the myth that Black Americans are gifted as naturally superior athletes. (Image Credit: Baltimore Museum of Art: Instagram)
The Birth of Department Stores
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
April 10, 2024- October 13, 2024
Illustration of a Parisian Department store (Photo credit: Musée des Arts Décoratifs)
Visit the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD) in Paris to learn about one of the systems that today seems commonplace, but played a significant role in shaping consumerism and the fashion industry: department stores. This exhibit highlights the rich historical, political, and social contexts from 1852-1925 and showcases how these played a role in reshaping consumer perceptions, purchasing behaviors, and industry trends that greatly shaped the world of fashion we know today.
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So tell us, which fashion exhibit are you excited to see for yourself this summer?
