Nieuwe Instituut Opens The Workwear Exhibition
Last weekend, Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, The Netherlands kicked-off the Workwear exhibition. With the opening of this expo the Nieuwe Instituut and fashion researcher Eldina Begic pays tribute to functional work clothing. At the expo you can explore dozens of rare vintage classics, and current highlights and futuristic experiments.
The Displayed Designers At The Expo
Included in the Workwear exhibition are collections of famous fashion designers including Massimo Osti and Nigel Cabourn, artists like Lucy Orta and William Morris, private collections such as Sammlung Hoffmann and the G-Star Archive, and museums including the Rijksmuseum, the Van Abbe Museum and the Smithsonian. Plus: a Rotterdam designer and performer fantasise about the future of work and its associated workwear in special contributions.
The Content Of The Expo
The Workwear exhibition highlights perfectly how the simple design language, hardwearing materials and symbolic meaning of workwear all appeal to the imagination in their own way. You can discover the history and global impact of the clothes that were originally designed as tools. Inspiring everyday fashion and haute couture, for decades they have been embraced by a wide range of freethinkers, artists and politicians as symbols of solidarity and equality. Could workwear help us to imagine the society of the future?
In the exhibition you can see X-rays of Neil Armstrong’s lunar landing suit next to the ‘space suit’ with zip-off legs worn by members of the Dutch Provo movement. An original over-shirt by Arts and Crafts designer William Morris hangs alongside Red Coat, Nicola L’s 11-person rain suit, and Maria Blaisse’s Flexicap seems to nod to a textile sculpture by Franz Erhard Walter. An Italian Futurist overall by Thayaht and theatre costumes from the Russian avant-garde show how their designers imagined the future based on work clothes.
Visit The Expo
The Workwear expo at Nieuwe Instituut can be visited until the 10th of September. So, dive into the long history of functional workwear at this inspiring expo that highlights historical functional clothing pieces.
Nieuwe Instituut
Museumpark 25
3015 CB Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Leave a Comment