Fashion in Focus at the Denver Art Museum

Photo Courtesy of Houston Rogers Victoria and Albert Museum, London

This fall’s “Diva” exhibit at the Denver Art Museum is a “glamorous history lesson,” says Jill D’Alessandro, director and curator of the Avenir Institute of Textile Arts and Fashion.

A splashy show celebrating the creativity and cultural impact of nearly 100 iconic performers and their costumes from the late 1800s to the present, the exhibit was organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Denver is the only U.S. venue for “Diva,” and the museum is adding costumes to the exhibition from Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Maria Félix, Carmen Miranda, Elizabeth Taylor and Celia Cruz. The museum also bought a coat that was part of Josephine Baker’s personal wardrobe; it will become part of the permanent collection.

Photo Courtesy of Charles Knight/ Shutterstock

“It’s a journey beginning with the earliest opera divas, like Maria Callas, and others who were in many ways role models,” D’Alessandro says. “You read their individual stories, and they are so inspirational.” 

D’Alessandro cites talents such as Bob Mackie, creator of costumes for Cher and Tina Turner that are included in “Diva,” for both his artistry and technical skill. From the choice of colors and fabrics to a garment’s tailoring and construction, many elements are needed to create a spectacular and successful show wardrobe.

Photo Courtesy of Denver Art Museum

D’Alessandro has enhanced “Diva,” but the exhibit currently on display on the museum’s sixth floor bears more of her curatorial imprint. In creating “Conversation Pieces: Stories from the Fashion Archives,” she dug into the Denver Art Museum’s own closet. DAM’s fashion collection was started in 1942 and contains more than 5,000 objects from Asia, Europe and North and South America, which range from archaeological textiles to contemporary works of art in fiber and fashion. 

“Conversation Pieces” is arranged into groupings of garments in which a vintage designer look is showcased alongside something contemporary (in “conversation”), such as an 1896 Worth red silk faille ballgown next to a 2020 Rick Owens-designed voluminous gown of cotton percale and metal. The show also features ensembles worn by prominent women, such as the Jean Lanvin dress donated by Giulia Vimercati, the wife of Gio Ponti, the museum’s architect. A vignette of little black dresses is highlighted by a silk chiffon Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel creation from about 1926, as well as an Yves Saint Laurent dress from 1982. Taking a global view of fashion, D’Alessandro is careful to include designers—such as Mexico’s Carla Fernandez—and movements that go beyond the traditional fashion capitals of Europe and New York. 

Conversation Pieces at the Denver Art Museum

Before joining the Denver museum in 2023, D’Alessandro was curator in charge of costume and textile arts for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She spent 21 years in California, producing exhibits on such subjects as Guo Pei, China’s preeminent couturier, and topics that included contemporary Muslim fashion.

While fashion exhibits are flashy and bring in crowds to the museum, the Avenir Institute’s mission is more ambitious: to study world textile traditions, global fashion and contemporary textile art. The institute is supported by a $25 million endowment that was secured in 2019. In addition to “Conversation Pieces,” D’Alessandro has designed three exhibitions, including one on Nancy Hemenway Barton, a multidisciplinary artist known for her textile wall sculptures. Among recent programs, the museum held an inaugural symposium that brought together directors and curators from leading textile arts and fashion organizations in the U.S., the Netherlands and Belgium, all sharing the common thread of being community-driven innovators.