CHELSEA — Designer Michael Kors has always been convinced that a woman could be both sexy and sporty.
“I have always been intrigued by a sexy tomboy,” Kors once told Women's Wear Daily, according to the Council of Fashion Designers of America . “That’s my ethos. No matter what, that’s going to be my ethos.”
Now, Kors and other designers from the CFDA are being honored for their own defining ethos in a new exhibit: IMPACT: 50 Years of the CFDA.
The exhibit, which opens at the Fashion Institute of Technology on Feb. 10, celebrates 100 of America’s most famous designers by highlighting one garment or ensemble that best defines their style, or had the biggest impact on the fashion world.
Conceived by Diane von Furstenberg and curated by Patricia Mears, the exhibit is the first to celebrate the CFDA, which currently has more than 600 designers as members, including big names such as Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. The organization was founded in New York in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert and 50 other designers, but has since grown to become the one of the most influential fashion trade organizations in the United States.
For von Furstenberg, the beginning of New York’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week during the CFDA’s 50th anniversary was the perfect time to highlight the unique styles that have made these illustrious designers so famous.
In the exhibit, Kors chose to show an outfit that dresses up a day in sweatpants, completed by a cashmere sweatshirt and hemp crystal beaded pajama pant. His outfit is from the Spring 2011 collection, but the earliest piece, designed by Traina-Norell, dates back to 1958.
For Narcisco Rodriquez, his style was best shown with an embroidered red and silk black dress famously worn by Michelle Obama during election night in 2008.
De la Renta thought that one of his latest works has had the most impact on the ever-changing world of fashion. For his selection, he chose an evening gown created for his Spring 2012 collection, complete with a yellow silk taffeta skirt sewn to a black lace bodice.
Works such as de la Renta’s show not only the designers’ talent, but also how integral the CFDA’s existence is to the future of fashion in Manhattan and the rest of the world.
“Today, in an era dominated by the designer label, it is perhaps difficult to comprehend how seminal a role the CFDA played in creating the platform for the recognition of individual creative talents in New York City, the nexus of global fashion,” Mears said.
Other items range from an 1980s looking black and white geometric cotton coat by Pauline Trigere to a feather and wool suit from Thom Browne.
Regardless of the diversity of unique pieces in the exhibit, von Furstenberg knew that the designers would find unity in the exhibit’s name.
“'Impact’ was the one word that came to mind immediately,” von Furstenberg said. “It is so strong and defining of our individual and collective influence.”
IMPACT: 50 Years of the CFDA will run from Feb. 10 to April 17 at The Museum at FIT on Seventh Avenue at 27th Street.
