2012–13 THREADS 1 THREADS ANNUAL NEWSLETTER OF THE COSTUME COUNCIL OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART 2 THREADS T A BLE OF CONTEN TS Costume and Textiles Department Report 5 2013 COSTUME COUNCIL Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel 9 Photographer Melvin Sokolsky 13 The Vintage Circuit 19 Jerell Scott 23 Grace Coddington 27 Shinique Smith: Firsthand 33 Building Your Fashion Library 37 Debut 2013 Fashion Show 41 Walter van Beirendonck and Paul Boudens 45 Mary Katrantzou 51 Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution 55 Olivier Theyskens 61 Tadashi Shoji 67 Jennifer Henry 71 Stephen Webster 77 Michael Schmidt 81 Sue Wong 87 Rachel Zoe 91 COSTUME COUNCIL BOARD ME MBERS 96 L ETTER FR OM THE CHAI R 99 COSTUME A N D TEX T ILES GIFTS A N D A QUIS I T IONS 101 LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Many people have asked me how Costume Council events come about. For me, paying $250 for museum membership and $1,000 to participate in the Costume as last year’s incoming chair, the process began in March of 2012, when I met Council. Future events will be planned by the curators and LACMA’s with Sharon Takeda, senior curator of costume and textiles, and members of development team. LACMA’s development staff to establish new guidelines and goals for the Costume We could not have accomplished our mission this last year without Council. In July, our programming chairs brainstormed ideas for another remark- the assistance of our LACMA associate, Jen Murby. Jen graciously fielded all able Costume Council year. Our mission was to build educational, entertaining calls to the Costume Council office, coordinated and facilitated our interactions programs that enhanced the prestige of LACMA’s internationally respected with the museum, skillfully negotiated on our behalf, created our beautiful Department of Costume and Textiles, with a goal of examining fashion and textiles invitations, and oversaw communications with our members and collaborators. through film, books, magazines, photography, art exhibitions, and interaction She has the eye of a fashion editor, the political skill of a diplomat, and the grace with fashion designers. We submitted the best of our ideas to curators and museum of a British aristocrat, wrapped up in a charming package. Jen recently development staff for approval, sent invitations to possible speakers, coordinated departed LACMA to pursue a career in the film industry. We wish her the schedules, and reserved event space. We sought out a wide range of local and greatest success. international speakers, unusual settings for our events, and expert interviewers Congratulations and thanks to our curators, Sharon Takeda and to guide discussions. Kaye Spilker, for their tireless efforts to seek out the best of the best for LACMA’s This first-ever digital version of Threads, our newsletter, documents collection and present it with such elegance through their excellent exhibitions the programs we created and allows us to share our most memorable moments. and catalogues. We emphasized designers and encouraged them to join us in person for our pro- Chairing the Costume Council has been a true honor for me. I have grams. I don’t think we have ever enjoyed such intimate contact with so many sincerely appreciated the opportunity to contribute in my own small way to our designers, and I know that they genuinely appreciated getting to know the real success and history. Thinking back over this dramatic year, I think of the incred- women who are their customers. ible places I have gone and the fascinating people I met through my position. As we approach the Costume Council’s sixtieth anniversary, we think It was a life-altering, once-in-a-lifetime thrill. My deepest thanks to all those back to the Council’s founders, who dreamt up the idea of planning glamorous, listed below for their generosity and assistance in making something truly exciting, and educational events to raise funds for major acquisitions. This year fabulous happen at the Costume Council this past year. the board approved the purchase of two French Revolution–era ensembles that our curators selected as a legacy in honor of the sixty-year history of the Costume Council. We also approved the purchase of two evening gowns, from about 1954, the inaugural year of the Costume Council, in honor of one of our founders and former chairwomen, Eleanor LaVove, who passed away this year. The Cindy Canzoneri Costume Council’s lasting legacy is LACMA’s incredible collection, now regarded Costume Council Chair as one of the finest in the world, which we have helped create through our dues—and sometimes even donations from our own closets! A highlight of the past year for me was attending the opening of Fashioning Fashion at the Musée de la Mode et du Textile in Paris in December. Samuel Goldwyn Films Jerell Scott, fashion designer Epic Pictures Deborah Scott Riley, director of Versailles ’73 Members of the Costume Council would have beamed with pride to see the Bloomingdale’s Cameron Silver, Decades, Dukes of Melrose wonderful reception LACMA’s collection received in Paris. Imagine a collection Los Angeles Times Olivier Theyskens, fashion designer of eighteenth-century European clothing, so impressive in its scope that even Neiman Marcus Arianne Phillips, costume designer and stylist the Musée de la Mode et du Textile would be envious! We were all thrilled to hear Theory Mary Katrantzou, fashion designer Swarovski Lisa Love, West Coast editor, Vogue Olivier Theyskens praise the exhibition when he visited LACMA this year, Lisa Immordino Vreeland, director of Diana Vreeland: Stephen Webster, jewelry designer reminding us that what we do has true value and impact. The Eye Has to Travel Jennifer Henry, fashion designer and artist Booth Moore, Los Angeles Times fashion writer Financially, the year was also a success. Not only did we stay well Mani Brothers Real Estate Group Melvin Sokolsky, fashion photographer Sue Wong, fashion designer within our projected budget, but we far exceeded our revenue goals, thanks Randee Klein, Ken Devlin, and David Fahey, Tadashi Shoji, fashion designer Fahey / Klein Gallery largely to increased ticket sales and generous sponsorship of our events. I would Michael Schmidt, fashion designer Doris Raymond, The Way We Wore Rose Apodaca, writer like to extend my sincere gratitude to each board member for her dedication, Esther Ginsberg, Golyester Rachel Zoe, fashion designer, stylist, support, and creative input. You are truly a gifted, brilliant, and powerful group R. J. Cutler, director of The September Issue and media celebrity of women. Mission accomplished! Though the Costume Council board of direc- Grace Coddington, creative director, Vogue Christine Chiu, for providing refreshments Nick Harvill, private library consultant, to the Rachel Zoe event tors will cease to exist due to changes in museum policy that apply to all museum Harvill Libraries Susan Rothenberg, for underwriting support groups, the Costume Council will continue to flourish with your Dori Schneider, for graciously inviting us a portion of the Costume Council Board Luncheon into her home for the Nick Harvill event Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising support. This year there will be only one level of membership, with members Valerie Sobel, philanthropist Otis College of Art and Design 96 THREADS THREADS 97 Costume Council members at Urban Light 94 THREADS THREADS 95 COSTUME COUNCIL BOA R D M E MBERS E X E CUT I VE E X-OFFICIO Cindy Canzoneri, Chair Carolyn Wagner Lauren Katz, Recording Secretary STRATEGY Cindy Fields, Treasurer Betty Leonard P R OGRAM S Dawn Moore, Member - at Large Ellen Levy-Sarnoff, All Council Greer Saunders, All Council ADVI S O RS Christine Chiu, Fashion Circle Sheila Weisman Susan Rothenberg, Fashion Circle Kathy Offenhauser Alison Kahn, Patrons Sue Tsao Ricki Ring, Patrons Linda Freund Donna Wolff, Salon Series Maureen Shapiro Joni Smith, Special Events Lanie Bernhard M E MBERSHIP Rini Kraus Cheryl Van Tassel, Admissions Jim Waterson Helene Cooper, Admissions Susan Jarvie, Hospitality Cindy Canzoneri, Threads Editor Dori Schneider, Hospitality COMMUNICATIONS Elizabeth Matthews, Public Relations Liza-Mae Carlin, Snaps Editor Toni Yamin, Photography & Threads Editor 6 THREADS THREADS 7 COSTUME COUNCIL 2013 EVEN TS ACQUISITIONS 9 DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL Monday, September 10, 2012 Followed by a Q&A with director Lisa Immordino Vreeland Moderated by Booth Moore, Los Angeles Times fashion critic During Diana Vreeland’s fifty-year reign as the “empress of fashion,” she launched Twiggy, advised Jackie Onassis, and established countless trends that have withstood the test of time. She was the fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar, where she worked for twenty-five years before becoming editor in chief of Vogue, followed by a remarkable stint at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, where she helped popularize its historical collections. Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel is an intimate portrait and a vibrant celebration of one of the most influential women of the twentieth century, an enduring figure who has had a strong influence on the course of fashion, beauty, publishing, and culture. Cauët Soeurs, Paris Diana Vreeland in her red room in 1979. Woman’s Evening Dress, circa 1912 Photo by Horst P. Horst Purchased with funds provided by Ellen A. Michelson M.2012.95.25 10 THREADS DIANA VREELAND DIANA VREELAND THREADS 11 TOP LEFT TOP TOP TOP Andy MacDowell Ellen Levy-Sarnoff, Isabella Sarnoff, Lilly Sarnoff, Booth Moore Nicky Butler, Jacqueline Bissett, and Danny Sarnoff and Tim Vreeland TOP RIGHT BOTTOM Peggy Moffitt BOTTOM Cindy and Tony Canzoneri BOTTOM Lisa Immordino Vreeland Tanya Gill, Adriana Caras, BOTTOM and Lisa Berman Valerie Sobel, Francois Jantzen, Doris Raymond, and Louise Coffey-Webb 13 Jean Dessès (France, 1904–1970) Woman’s Evening Dress (detail), 1956 Purchased with funds PHOTOGRAPHER provided by Ellen A.