ARTH 450 Advanced Seminar in Art and Architecture: Archiving and Curating Fashion

• Instructor: Dr. John Potvin

In recent years, vintage and so-called archival fashion have taken centre stage as important engines of the fashion system. Fashion houses have increasingly understood the cultural (and financial) importance of and harnessed their own archives. Instagram accounts focused on the past work of designers have proliferated. Aside from the hyperbolic and well-televised annual MET Gala and its exhibition, fashion exhibitions have increased in both size and number. In short, interest in past designer and historical fashion has increased exponentially. Through various key case studies, this course examines curatorial and archival strategies, methods and theories pertaining specifically to fashion and clothing more broadly. At the heart of this enquiry is a concern for fashion collections and collecting fashion, now considered a legitimate and culturally sanctioned activity well beyond the purview of super wealthy clients.