Just sometimes you get lucky when exploring new exhibits and gallery shows.
That was certainly the case this past Sunday when Jay and I visited the Perelman Building, an Art Deco extension of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, featuring special contemporary art exhibits.
As we entered a show dedicated to Vlisco, a company I had never even heard of, I didn’t know what to expect. An involuntary WOW! escaped my lips. To say this was a surprise is an understatement.
The vibrant fabric colors, the creative silhouettes, and the innovative African fashion designs for all occasions pulsated against rows of creative patterned fabrics manufactured by Vlisco – a name that I won’t soon forget.
It turns out that “Vlisco: African Fashion on a Global Stage” is an visual feast for the eyes. Only we’re talking fashion feast rather than food this time around.
While I’m not a fashionista like my daughter Bonnie, I was mesmerized by this room and walked around several times taking iPhone photos along the way. Somehow I left my favorite camera charging back in New York…
I kept coming back to this Gala Dress with its memorable silhouette, intense colors and patterns. The shape reminded me of a mermaid – but what a mermaid!
I found one wedding dress in this collection, the dress with the white veil (middle right) full of patterns and colors – but still clearly recognizable as a wedding dress.
This display features one-of-a-kind designs made specifically for this show. Atypically, I was told the mannequins were made (and later shaved off!) to fit the dresses, not the other way around (i.e. dresses made to fit mannequins). As a result, the exhibit installers had a unique challenge on their hands, and are to be commended.
After admiring my favorite dresses, I directed my attention to the resin fabric sheets on the wall. The wax print designs were pure fun, and included everything from abstract patterns, body parts (think symbolic eyes and hands), and pop culture images of shoes, rings, maps, and whatever else one can think of. The designers are only limited by their imaginations.
One wall the demonstrated the wax resin printing process (the brown plate is on the upper right), reminiscent of screen printing but using wax, which made me appreciate the intensity of the colors and rhythms all the more. It’s the wax process that preserves the bold, crisp colors and makes this the medium of choice.
While I was talking to Jay (who wasn’t as mesmerized looking at clothes as I was, no matter how creative), I remembered a New York Times article about this a while back (turned out to be July), which I just found here. The Times talked about the Vlisco show being the most vivacious show under the umbrella of 5 shows called Creative Africa, three in Perelman.
If you’re lucky enough to be in Philly before January 22, 2017, stop by and get a flavor of an exciting Dutch fashion manufacturing company with a clear design niche. Vlisco is a fascinating and unique company which has been creating Western African and Central African textiles in the Netherlands for over 170 years – a surprise since I assumed these fabrics came out of Africa rather than Europe.
You can see how active Vlisco is from their extensive website. A few pages that I thought were interesting included the news around the world and a limited edition fashion page (click on the swatches to see the dresses).
Certainly the traditional Art Deco design of the exterior had us fooled. Once again, I was reminded that you can’t always judge a book by its cover. Be open. Try new things. Sometimes you’ll be richly rewarded.
