BRANKOPOPOVICBLOG: Dressing the 20th Century at MMH Fashion Museum Hasselt

Dressing the 20th Century | Women’s Fashion in the Designer Era
Some of you still may not have heard about the MMH Fashion Museum Hasselt (Modemuseum Hasselt) (Belguim) but with its exciting and relevant exhibitions and their collection it is one of my favorite museums.

MMH recently bacame owner of a home-grown fashion talent and phenomenon Raf Simons. Substanial Raf Simons archive is now part of their collection and is shown in the in the exhibition Dressing the 20th Century.
Alongside Raf Simons the exhibition focuses on a number of Limburg designers such as Martin Margiela and upcoming labels Ti + Hann and Sofie Claes.
Also worth mentioning is the scenography. This time Michiel van der Bos was responsible.
For more information: http://www.modemuseumhasselt.be

Here are impressions from the opening of the exhibition!

Dressing the 20th century is open unti the 6th of January 2013.

The 20th Century was characterised by extremely diverse fashions which followed each other at a breath-taking rate: from orientalism, Roaring Twenties, the elegant Thirties, the new simplicity and New Look to the revolutionary Sixties, anti-fashion & ethnic influences, Dress for Success and avant-garde, with an explosion of different fashions at the end of the century.

Vivienne Westwood

Spurred on by technology, supply and demand and sociocultural change the concept of fashion was given another interpretation. The status of the designer was also redefined. The exclusive atmosphere of Parisian couture at the beginning of the 20th Century moved towards the instant worldwide accessibility of fashion on the internet in the nineties. Paris remained the epicentre, but designer fashion was simultaneously developing in the United States, Italy, Great Britain and Japan.

Throughout the 20th century intercultural and historical influences had a major impact on fashion design. Styles, designs and materials from earlier periods and other cultures became more accessible to designers as a result of more efficient travel and communication opportunities. At the same time, developments in the field of photography and new printing techniques meant that designers could draw on ideas from secondary sources such as illustrated books, magazines and newspapers.

Powerdressing

Alexander Mcqueen

Roaring Twenties

Avant garde

Raf Simons

The exhibition focuses on fashion designers from Limburg within the context of the 20th Century. The region continues to generate an extremely diverse group of fashion talents. Raf Simons, Maison Martin Margiela, Les Hommes, and up and coming designers such as Sofie Claes ensure that Belgium is highly regarded on the international fashion map.

young labels Ti + Hann
and WOLF by Sofie Claes

Sofie Claes

Maison martin Margiela

If the set up and the idea is not convincing enough here are just few names:

Gabrielle Chanel, Jacques Fath, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Madame Grès, Maison Worth, Mariano Fortuny, Gianni Versace, Rudi Gernreich, Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Junya Watanabe – Comme des Garçons, Emilio Pucci, André Courrèges, Moschino, Issey Miyake, Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, Jeanne Lanvin, Valentino, Yoshiki Hishinuma, Tim Van Steenbergen, Dirk Van Saene, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Yohji Yamamoto, Stephen Sprouse, Roberto Cavalli, Zandra Rhodes, Jil Sander, Emanuel Ungaro, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Azzedine Alaïa, Patrick Kelly, Jeanne Paquin, Hanae Mori, Marcel Rochas, John Galliano, Raf Simons, Maison Martin Margiela, Sofie Claes, Dirk Bikkembergs, Ti+Hann, Les Hommes, Marjolijn Van den Heuvel, Kyuso and more.