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Hems go up and down; florals go in and out; even chunky cork wedge heels enjoy the revolving door of fashion. But there is one constant: black.
Black never loses its lustre. It's never off the catwalks or the pages of the fashion glossies and often, like this season, it enjoys even greater popularity. This year, designers - haute couture to high street - have embraced black all over again. Oprah devoted a recent show to black as a fashion staple and a new book, The Black Dress by Dr Valerie Steele of New York's prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology, has just been released. In Melbourne, the home of black fashion, a new exhibition Black in Fashion: Mourning to Night is now on at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).
Black in fashion is a perennial topic of discussion. Throughout history the wearing of black clothing has had multiple and often contradictory meanings. At times, it has signified death, power, elegance, urbanity, subversion and sex appeal. Black in Fashion: Mourning to Night explores the symbolism and enduring use of black in Australian and international fashion.
Roger Leong, the NGV's International Fashion and Textiles Curator, says: "Black has appeared in many guises throughout the centuries. Historically, Chanel is the designer most closely associated with advocating the use of black in fashion, creating many modern classics, such as the 'Little Black Dress'.
"In the 1970s, Vivienne Westwood introduced fetish wear into the punk uniform while, locally, Jenny Bannister fashioned her version of urban tribal wear. Today, with its resolutely urban associations, black continues to serve as inspiration for contemporary designers."
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The exhibition features more than 65 outfits and accessories dating back to the 1800s. While some items are on loan from other institutions and private wardrobes, most are from the NGV's permanent fashion and textiles collections. Portraits, sketches and photographs dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, also from the NGV's collections, complement the exhibition.
Black in Fashion: Mourning to Night, which is on display until the end of August 2008, is the first exhibition to be held across both NGV venues: NGV International on St Kilda Road and The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square. At both venues, the lights are dimmed to protect the textiles that fade in bright light.
At NGV International, the exhibition begins with Thomas de Keyser's seventeenth century painting of Frederick van Velthuysen and his wife Josina. It's a portrait of Dutch fashion where black is the modest but luxurious choice, and this leads to an examination of the various codes of etiquette that have aligned black with traditional mourning wear. Key pieces include traditional mourning dresses, hats and capes.
Moving on from mourning, there's an extremely naughty pair of spiked, towering black leather court shoes on display. Perfect for the dominatrix, they're from the Bondage collection of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren and were sold in the mid seventies at their shop, Sex, in London.
Contemporary designers represented in the international exhibition include Yves Saint Laurent, Comme des Garçons, Madeleine Vionnet, Cristobal Balenciaga, Gabrielle Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, Christian Dior and Gianni Versace.
Versace's knockout black evening dress is the favourite of Paola Di Trocchio, one of the four curators who organised the exhibition. "From the front it could be a nun's habit and from the back it's wow," says Paola in an interview with Living Creatively. "It's backless to the top of the buttocks and has a thigh-high side split. It was worn by Christy Turlington and is totally sexy and controversial. It's pious and sombre at the same time. It sums up the exhibition for me."
Continuing, Paola says "Black can mean many things at the same time. It can allow you to be bold or regress into yourself. It can allow you to be rebellious or fit in. It's out there and it's classical. It's uncomplicated but chic. It's a shortcut to style. And it takes you from day to night. It's being an amalgam of all those things that has allowed it to endure. It never goes away."
Christian Dior's black silk cocktail dress from autumn-winter 1954 is a little black dress if ever there was one. A strict silhouette, it's a fine example of understated glamour, the sort of thing Audrey Hepburn would have looked divine in.
At The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia the exhibition has a more local flavour with designs by former Collins Street boutiques Remond and La Petite. Sparkling and romantic, the 1956 embroidered, bejewelled evening dress by La Petite is an exquisite copy of a Christian Dior creation. Cinderella would have loved it.
There's also Jenny Bannister's punk-inspired 'body sculpture' and Martin Grant's trademark sculptural black dress, which is restrained and sexy at the same time. Designs by Mad Cortes and Linda Jackson are displayed alongside glitzy eveningwear from Studibaker Hawk.
An illustrated catalogue with essays by the four curators [Paola Di Trocchio, Laura Jocic, Roger Leong and Danielle Whitfield] has been published to accompany the exhibition. It charts the story of black in fashionable dress through a discussion of the diversity and heritage of black, nineteenth century mourning dress, the urbanity of black and, finally, 'black magic', or the allure of wearing black after dark.
In addition, there's a range of tours, lectures and films focusing on black in fashion. Entry to the exhibition is free, so you've no excuse not to get up close to these stunning designs by famous designers in that most time-honoured of colours - black.
By Carolyn Ford
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