The Museum at FIT launches exhibit celebrating history of hip-hop fashion
The exhibit, titled "Fresh, Fly and Fabulous: Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style," features over 100 garments and accessories.
A new exhibit at The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is paying tribute to hip-hop‘s influence in fashion over the past 50 years, Yahoo reports.
Titled “Fresh, Fly and Fabulous: Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style,” the exhibit features over 100 garments and accessories that represent the fashion evolution of hip-hop culture throughout the past half of the century.
Per a Nov. 7 news release, the exhibition items range from Kangol hats to Dapper Dan jackets as well as Adidas sneakers and tracksuits made popular by acts like Run DMC. The show includes garments worn by hip-hop icons and influencers including Lil’ Kim, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, LL Cool J, Chuck D, Missy Elliott, Aaliyah, Khaled, Lil Nas X, and Cardi B, to name a few.
Visitors will see designs by 5001 Flavors, Misa Hylton, Cross Colours, Karl Kani, FUBU, Rocawear, Baby Phat, and Sean John, among others. Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Versace are also among the fashion leaders on display due to their significant influence on hip-hop fashion.
The exhibition is curated by journalist Elena Romero, an assistant professor of marketing communications at FIT, and Elizabeth Way, associate curator of costume at MFIT.
“It was important for The Museum at FIT to organize this exhibition, because hip-hop—the most influential music genre of our era—has had such a profound impact on the world of fashion,” notes Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator, MFIT.
“Furthermore, hip-hop fashion and music are cultural expressions of the African and Hispanic cultural diasporas, which MFIT seeks to amplify as part of our goal to expand the understanding of fashion,” Steele added.
The show aims to celebrate hip-hop fashion starting with the birth of the culture in the Bronx in 1973. The exhibition is made possible by way of funding and or support from the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT, The Coby Foundation and Barrett Barrera Projects, per the news release.
Bloomberg Connects, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ free arts and cultural app, will launch a new, digital guide in conjunction with the exhibition.
The “Fresh, Fly, and Fabulous: Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style” exhibition runs from Feb. 8 through April 23, 2023. A book of the same title will accompany the event and features a foreword written by rapper Slick Rick. A symposium will be held on Feb. 24 that is free and open to the public.
The Museum at FIT is free and open to the public on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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