Touring the Fashion/Garment District with a Visit to the Museum at F.I.T.

Hey, it's time we had a fashionable meetup!

Note the museum is free and self-guided, be sure to arrive early (suggested 1:30pm) if you wish to see the exhibits and use the restroom.

Overview
This tour features a guided tour around midtown Manhattan's garment district and as we honor NYC's history as the Capital of fashion design and clothing manufacturing. We'll also talk about the role and influence of women as fashion designers and in within retail industry and manufacturing from a historic perspective.

Our meeting place is outside the free Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology where you can enjoy the new exhibit opening
on February 19th, described below.

Arrive early enough between 1:00pm and 1:30pm (allow 30 minutes to one hour) to check out their latest exhibit (and use the restroom). We'll meet outside the museum at 2pm.

Fashioning Wonder: A Cabinet of Curiosities explores the fascinating and longstanding connections between cabinets of curiosities and fashion. Also known as wunderkammern, cabinets of curiosities were precursors to the modern museum, and many included examples of clothing. Nearly 200 garments and accessories represent the breadth of objects collected within the cabinets, and they are further selected to pique curiosity through their rarity, beauty, or originality.

An introductory gallery examines the history of cabinets of curiosities, explaining their significance to the Age of Exploration, their ties to colonialism, and the need to think more critically about contemporary museums and their objects. Within the main gallery, selections are organized into ten themed cabinets that highlight the connections between fashion and the natural world, fine art, human anatomy, and illusion. The immersive exhibition design also allows for interaction with objects, encouraging visitors to identify unusual or obsolete objects and to engage with the sensory appeal of fashion.

Walking Tour Overview
For nearly a century, New York City was the clothing-making capital of the world! NY is still a design capital and some clothing is still made here. The is the neighborhood between Times Square and Madison Square whuch houses the sales, marketing and design offices of both famous and up-and-coming designers.

We'll learn about the "skyscraper factories" built between 1919 and 1931, and their distinctive architecture as we trace the history of the garment industry and how it moved to midtown after beginning in the Lower East Side in the 19th century. We'll also cover the how New York later changed from a manufacturing center to a design and marketing capital.

We'll also visit a few of the fashion district alleyways and stop at Mood Fabrics (of Project Runway fame) with its endless aisles of fabric, buttons and accessories. We'll end our tour at Bryant Park at 41st Street and Avenue of the Americas.

Cheers from Hank
hankorenstein@gmail.com
646-596-3005