New York’s Museum Of Chinese In America Puts Fashion Front And Center
Female, Fashionable, NY
Since 1980, The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) in New York City has served as a beacon of Chinese-American history, "preserving and presenting the history, heritage, culture and diverse experiences of people of Chinese descent in the United States." Beginning as the New York Chinatown History Project, spearheaded by historian John Kuo Wei Tchen and community resident and activist Charles Laiand, MOCA has evolved into a leading institution, expanding into its new Maya Lin-designed space in 2009.
Currently under the curatorial direction of Herb Tam, this season MOCA will present a series of fashion-focused events and exhibitions that explore Chinese and Chinese-Americans who have immersed themselves in fashion in China and around the world.
MOCAStyle: Female, Fashionable, New York
January 24, 2013, 7:00–9:30pm
This Thursday, MOCA brings together three Asian-American women with different perspectives on the fashion industry to give behind-the-scenes insight into their work and how it intersects. The panel will feature designers Mary Ping from Slow and Steady Wins the Race, Cynthia Leung, U.S. press officer at Balenciaga, and Creatures of Comfort owner Jade Lai. The evening's discussion will be moderated by Christina Moon, Assistant Professor in the School of Art and Design History and Theory, and the Director of the MA Fashion Studies program at Parsons The New School for Design.
Anna Sui, Fall 2012 sketch
Front Row: Chinese-American Designers
April 26 – September 29, 2013
Guest-curated by Mary Ping, Front Row pays homage to the unique visions of 17 Chinese-American designers, retelling and celebrating their individual stories within a larger narrative, with designer assemblages of signature looks and personal reflections. From the origins of their careers and development of signature styles, to understanding their own complex relationship to the concepts of New York and Asia, the exhibition will explore the rise of these Chinese-American designers and their relationship to New York City.
Participating fashion designers include Thomas Chen, David Chu, Melinda Eng, Jade Lai, Derek Lam, Wayne Lee, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, Phillip Lim, Mary Ping, Peter Som, Anna Sui, Vivienne Tam, Yeohlee Teng, Zang Toi, Vera Wang, and Jason Wu.
Cover of Ling Long magazine, no. 1, 1931. Courtesy of Columbia University Libraries
Shanghai Glamour: New Women, 1910s-40s
April 26 – September 29, 2013
Shanghai Glamour features 12 exquisite outfits from the 1910s to the 1940s on loan from the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou – on view for the first time in the United States – and three dresses from prominent private New York collections. Presented alongside over 50 period accessories, photos, and lifestyle magazines, the exhibition explores Shanghai's identity in relation to its women and their fashion.
Guest-curated by Mei Mei Rado, Shanghai Glamour illustrates the allure, mystery and seduction of "the Paris of the East," through the women of that time, their role in society, and their style.
For more information about each event, please visit the MOCA website.
The Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013
Tel: (212) 619-4785
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