Overview: Contemporary fashion over the last half-century has become increasingly influenced by current social, political, and environmental issues, and designers have adopted an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating architecture, design, and film to transcend traditional production and presentation techniques. Three inventive fashion studios—Bless, Boudicca, and Sandra Backlund—epitomize the bold, imaginative practices of today’s cutting-edge designers. This exhibition presents more than 30 signature works—films, objects, printed materials, and photography—integral to the collections of these three designers. 

Boudicca. Still from film of the Tornado Dress from Living in Time, fall/winter 2009–2010. Image courtesy of Boudicca.

Bless, a collaboration between Austrian designer Desiree Heiss and German designer Ines Kaag, blurs the boundary between fashion and designed objects. Bless’s designs, such as a unisex clothing line and gloves that double as pompoms, are influenced by found objects, recycled materials, and traditional craft techniques. Their presentation is equally original: lookbooks are distributed inside existing magazines to reach a broader audience, and fashion shows are interactive endeavors.

Boudicca, founded by British designers Zowie Broach and Brian Kirkby, is grounded in a deeply intellectual approach; tradition is carefully reinterpreted and the process of conceptualization, production, and presentation is chronicled through film. The designers’ Wode perfume, which is sprayed out of a graffiti can and resembles Yves Klein Blue paint before it evaporates, is emblematic of the practice’s experimentation with non-traditional forms and materials.

Like Bless and Boudicca, Swedish designer Sandra Backlund creates works that expand expectations of fashion design, including works spun entirely from metal yarn. Backlund’s knitwear designs are sophisticated three-dimensional constructions that reference art history and street culture while celebrating the movement of the human body. For this exhibition, Backlund’s designs are shown alongside the engaging fashion photography of her work by Swedish photographer Ola Bergengren.

Fashioning the Object charts the exciting departures these young designers have undertaken and how they have drawn inspiration from far-ranging influences.

Catalogue: The first illustrated publication to explore the work of Bless, Boudicca, and Sandra Backlund is edited by Zoë Ryan, John H. Bryan Chair and Curator, Department of Architecture and Design.

Sponsor: Major funding for this exhibition and catalogue is provided by the Auxiliary Board of the Art Institute of Chicago. Additional exhibition support is provided by Advisory Research, Inc., a Piper Jaffray Company. Annual support is provided by the Exhibitions Trust: Goldman Sachs, Kenneth and Anne Griffin, Thomas and Margot Pritzker, the Earl and Brenda Shapiro Foundation, Melinda and Paul Sullivan, the Trott Family Foundation, and the Woman's Board of the Art Institute of Chicago. Additional support is provided by the Architecture & Design Society.