This fall, the Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia put the spotlight on fashion with separate initiatives.
SCAD Atlanta is set to debut its new fashion museum, called SCADfash, on October 1. The show will run from October 3 to December 21. Located in a renovated 10,000-square-foot space adjacent to the fashion department, which itself is 27,000 square feet, SCADfash will offer a public gallery, a fashion conservation lab, a film and lecture space, and a fashion media library. Over 1,000 items from SCAD’s permanent collection, including garments designed by Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, and Givenchy, will be on view for the public year-round.
The inaugural exhibition will showcase 1960s womenswear by de la Renta, who was honored with an exhibition curated by Andre Leon Talley at the SCAD Museum of Art last February, a few months after the designer’s passing. The Atlanta presentation can be expected to include much of the same 70 pieces. New additions include dresses donated by former First Lady Laura Bush, Oprah Winfrey, and Taylor Swift, as well as designs from the de la Renta brand’s new creative director Peter Copping.
The introduction of SCADfash to the Atlanta campus might serve to bolster student enrollment in the fashion and fashion marketing and management programs. Last year, the school similarly launched SCADshow to supplement the undergraduate and graduate film and television programs.
Next up, on October 8, MOCA GA will collaborate with fashion incubator Factory Girls to create a runway fashion show fundraiser for the museum. Factory Girls is an Atlanta-based studio cofounded last December and run by fashion retail expert Rosa Thurnher and model agent and talent scout Regina Weir as a way to promote Southeastern designers. Factory Girls offers product development, sewing classes, consultations, showroom services, and a designer in-residence program.
The runway show will debut looks from the spring collections of designers Abbey Glass, Megan Huntz, and Hannah Cross. A portion of the proceeds from retail sales will be donated to MOCA GA. The event will take place at the museum on October 8, 6:30-8pm.
Emme Raus is a student in the writing program at theSavannah College of Art and Design Atlanta and BURNAWAY’s editorial intern.
