Courtesy of Milwaukee Art Museum
Oscar Wilde once said “One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art.”
In Milwaukee, the locals aren’t terribly concerned about wearing a work of art, much less being one. Especially now, in the dead of winter, there’s no dearth of not-so-artistic knit caps, dilapidated down jackets, and other well-weathered winter apparel. To be fair, Milwaukeeans do sport a dazzling array of camouflage. To cheer things up, there’s always the ever inevitable seasonal color, Wisconsin’s perennial favorite, pyre pumpkin, more familiarly known amongst natives as flame orange.
Mercifully, we can all enjoy some respite from our state of fashion malaise. The Milwaukee Art Museum’s (MAM) current exhibit, “Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair,” presents a multi-layered study of African American cultural and social aspirations in the context of haute couture. And, there’s a Milwaukee connection. In 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2001 Mount Mary University’s Fashion Chair Sandra Keiser worked with the Cream City Links to host the event. Not only did it have a direct association with the school’s curriculum, but it also fell squarely within the university’s mission of social justice, diversity and female empowerment. For four years, Mount Mary’s campus hosted the Ebony Fashion Fair. In fact, 13 of the exhibit’s 75 ensembles come from the University’s fashion archive.
The gay connection should be obvious. Haute couture, and fashion in general, could not exist without LGBT influence and inspiration. Among the 52 designers represented, many are gay. They include such industry icons as Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), Givenchy, Alexander McQueen and African American designer, Patrick Kelly. Sponsored by YSL’s chairman Pierre Bergé, Kelly made his name as the first American and first person of color to become a member of the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Sadly, like so many aspiring gay talents of the era, he died of AIDS.
To produce the exhibit’s supporting programs and events, MAM has collaborated with several local LGBT organizations. Diverse & Resilient hosts a fashion show at MAM After Dark in April and LGBT Film/Video Festival director Carl Bogner introduces a fashion-focused film series. There’s also a special lecture, “A Queer History of Fashion: From the Closet to the Catwalk,” sponsored by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Joseph R. Pabst Fund.
Another fashion show currently on view is at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee. “Stitching History from the Holocaust” offers a thought-provoking and compelling counterpoint to the MAM exhibit. It features garments made from patterns sent to a Milwaukee relative by Hedy Strnad, a Jewish seamstress who tried to escape Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Her attempted emigration to America failed. Although she subsequently perished in the Holocaust, her story and legacy survive through her fashion designs.
Finally, the annual University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Drag Show takes place Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Milwaukee Theatre. Ranked among the region’s largest drag performances, this fundraising event features 20 queens from across Wisconsin. This year’s donor recipient is Pathfinders, an LGBT+ and allied youth resource and support center. An American Sign Language interpreter is provided for the hearing impaired.
