Latex couture in an art museum space? Why not? We’ve had runway shows in a multitude of unconventional spots, models showing our outfits at those big World of Wearable Art shows, sharing space with one-of-a-kind cars, outside across patios and pavilions. That’s the great thing about being an alternate fashion designer. Be it home in the U.S. or halfway around the world; we can make any space work when it comes to showing our wares.
The pictures you see here were taken from a Dawnamatrix fashion show that happened a couple of weeks ago at the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia.
Dawnamatrix Fashion show at the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia
I was contacted by the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia to be a part of their inaugural fashion show event at the museum on their Charlottesville campus. Being told I was an inspiration to up-and-coming entrepreneurs was indeed an unexpected and happy surprise.
And very humbling, to be sure.
Featuring twenty-four garments, this show was a retrospective of my previous collections over the past decade. It really was a pleasure to showcase work in an art museum setting, surrounded by gorgeous paintings—talk about a cool inside place to show off my wardrobe—and more than the usual shows I have given, this one allowed me a good long look at my ‘older’ creations. I don’t often get the opportunity to see, in what was an unfolding up-to-the-second realization, how my techniques have evolved over the years. This aspect alone made the show so interesting. However, I was also reminded how these pieces could be considered timeless.; by taking inspiration from history and fantasy, the couture I created exists in a space beyond trends.
And surrounded by the environment of a museum, they truly were for me, and I hope everyone who attended the show, wearable art.
I extend a great big thank you (once again) to the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and the Fralin Museum on the school’s Charlottesville campus.
What an honor!
