Reinvention and Restlessness: Fashion in the Nineties

Minimalism. Retro revivals. Deconstruction. The rejuvenation of haute couture. These are just a few of the concepts that have come to define 1990s fashion, which was not easily characterized by a handful of silhouettes or the dictates of a few designers. As fashion editor Stephen Gan wrote in 1997, “To focus on one current look or to obsess over the rise and fall of hemlines is to miss out on the wonder and variety in fashion today.”

Reinvention and Restlessness: Fashion in the Nineties is organized by Colleen Hill, curator of costume and accessories, and features more than seventy-five looks from Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Helmut Lang, Maison Martin Margiela, Prada, XULY.Bët, and many others. The exhibition centers on designers who challenged the expected appearance or workings of high fashion, and who played an important role in laying the foundation for fashion of the twenty-first century.

The exhibition is accompanied by a book of the same title, published by Rizzoli Electa. More than 150 images by photographers such as Mark Borthwick, Corinne Day, Patrick Demarchelier, Craig McDean, Nick Knight, David Sims, and Ellen Von Unwerth illustrate some of the most important fashions of this dynamic decade.