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Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion

Start Date 16 March 2011
End Date 14 August 2011
Venue MoMu
Location Antwerp, Belgium
Curator Karen Van Godtsenhoven & Emmanuelle Dirix
Designer Bob Verhelst
Exhibition display of dressed mannequins, some suspended

This exhibition introduces the visitor to a wide variety of exquisite knitted garments and accessories from across the last few centuries, with a focus on high-fashion pieces and their vernacular interpretations. Top pieces by national and international designers and labels, historic couture pieces as well as more avant-garde and cutting edge pieces by established designers and new comers on the international fashion scene will sit side by side to reveal the richness and diversity of knitwear in high-fashion.

This exhibition addresses the important decades of knitwear in fashion, demonstrating knitwear’s popularity both on and off the catwalk, and unravelling the changing status of the relationship between knitwear and fashion. Thematically, it will showcase the various roles knitwear as played in social and fashion revolutions and will address knitwear’s different and fluid association with comfort, well-being, and chic.

With “Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion”, MoMu and Woolmark proudly present in collaboration with partners like Cousy, one of Belgium’s last knitting studio, a mix of contemporary and classic knitwear designs, as well as young designers and historical garments. The exhibition will challenge certain established ideas, and show that – far from being old-fashioned and dowdy – knitting is highly versatile, luxurious, and a continuing source of inspiration for high-end fashion.

This exhibition features the work of fashion houses and designers including Ann Salens, Vivienne Westwood, Maison Martin Margiela, Sonia Rykiel, Missoni, Elsa Schiaparelli, Patou, Chanel, Sandra Backlund, André Courrèges, Bodymap, Bernhard Willhelm, Yohji Yamamoto, and Mark Fast