An installation of garments from 2016 Fashion Fusion, an annual fashion competition presented by Houston Community College Fashion and Design Program and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

July 12–September 29, 2016

Located at Two Allen Center in Houston, Tx.

The Art Deco design style was an international design movement which began after World War 1 and continued through the 1940s. Embracing all of the arts, interior design, furniture, textiles, fashion and industrial design, Art Deco reflected modern technology, smooth lines, geometric shapes, streamlined forms. It was a tribute to scientific progress, the rise of technology and of speed. In reaction to the austerity imposed by World War I, the materials used were costly, silver, ivory, jade, crystal, but in the 1930s, after the Depression, designers and artists turned to mass produced materials, plastics and chrome. Zigzagged and triangular shapes, chevron patterns and sweeping curves defined the Deco motif.  Architecture captured the Art Deco movement in The Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, and Rockefeller Center all in New York. And in Houston, the Houston City Hall, JP Morgan Chase Building and the 1940 Air Terminal Museum reflect for us today the geometric shapes and the distinctive design elements of this movement.

This exhibition of selected garments created by the students in the Fashion and Design Program of Houston Community College, highlights Fashion Fusion, an annual and collaborative fashion competition presented by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and HCC.  Inspired by the museum’s recent exhibition, Sculpted in Steel: Art Deco Automobiles and Motorcycles, 1929-1940, students were challenged to create contemporary garments responding to the vehicles in the exhibition. Embodying a variety of contemporary and classic materials, these garments and accessories stretch conventional limits and creatively reflect the streamline forms, the chrome detailing, and the innovation and technology of the Art Deco period and of the vehicles in the Museum’s exhibition. They speak to us of an earlier time and at the same time, enthusiastically look to the future.  

Curated by Sally Reynolds

In cooperation with Houston Community College Fashion and Costume Design Program and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Featuring garments by Criseyda Arriaza, Kitty Dupas, Bridget Fizer, Alan Gonzalez, Maria Hammond, Luisa Nadarajah, Silvia Otaola, and Teresa Rangel

Photographs by Dawn Baxter