Storied Fashion Exhibits Where Mainstream And Museum MeetWhat:Part one of two on art events focusing on fashion, namely museum exhibits spotlighting both muses and designers.

The Dirt:
Fashion is to the art world what celebrity magazines are to publishing: the perceived fluff. However each one has merit in their work and their appeal to the masses. From October through March, a number of American museums are opening exhibits spotlighting the art of fashion, with a few accompanied by books and events commemorating the exhibits and those behind the showcased works. Here are our picks.

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco just opened a retrospective on the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent at the de Young museum, through April 2009. The exhibit is broken into four themes: pencil strokes, the revolution or YSL’s signature garments, the palette or his use of bright colors, and lyrical sources, focusing on his reference to historical figures, including literary and art icons. The museum is hosting a symposium on the artist and his influences the afternoon of Nov. 1 ($30) and will feature a number of speakers, including Vogue European Editor-at-large Hamish Bowles.

For a downtown-meets-uptown event, check out Soul on Skin on November 8 at the SoHo Dance Center. The Foundation for Open Creation is behind this event celebrating and benefiting breast cancer survivors, many of which have chosen to use tattoo art to beautify the skin where scars remain. The cocktail hour even will feature music by Semi Precious Weapons, belly dancing, a fashion show by Anie Rexe and a silent auction.

For fashion and its erotic nature, trust in the abilities of the students, staff and faculty of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, which will be home to the Seduction exhibit from December 9 through June 16. The exhibit will cover sexuality in fashion over the years, running the middle of the 18th century to the present, focusing on how fashion can aid an individual in becoming more attractive, powerful and classy. Among the designers represented, some include Jean-Paul Gaultier, Costume National and Peter Som.

In keeping with the fashion design tribute, the quaint southern city of Charlotte, North Carolina, hosts a couture exhibit via its Mint Museum. The museum opened the The Art of Affluence: Haute Couture and Luxury Fashions 1947-2007 in its costume gallery in July and will keep it open through May 2010. The exhibit celebrates the fashion designer’s appreciation for fine materials, craftsmanship and attention to detail, as well as custom designs, which it traces back to the 19th century designer Charles Frederick Worth. The exhibit, which also focuses on luxury designs, focuses on a number of household names, including Chanel, Balenciaga, Valentino, Patou, Louboutin and Ralph Rucci.

Where:
For more information on the YSL exhibit, visit the de Young website. For more information on the Soul on Skin event ($150/ticket), visit the Open Creation website. For more information on the FIT exhibit, visit the FIT website.
For more information on the Mint Museum and the fashion exhibit, visit the Mint Museum website.

Stay tuned for the second set of exhibits, featured in the next culture installment.

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