Explore the unconscious mind and embrace the absurd April 26 at the Gibbes Museum of Art when it quivers with excitement as it presents Sew Surreal, a surrealist-themed fashion show that blends art and fashion design.
The event, part of the Gibbes’ week-long line-up of Art Charleston events, features 10 local fashion designers, both formally trained and self-taught, who weClockwise from left: Hunter Hardee, Dev Smalls and Andrea Tuton designed collections for Sew Surrealre selected and challenged to choose art from the museum’s permanent collection and create a capsule collection inspired by it. Their resulting designs will be featured in a runway show in the museum’s Lenhardt Garden, where live music and large-scale video projections of each designer’s creation process will play in the background.
Bringing art to life
Jordan Brown, curator of programs at the Gibbes, explained the uniqueness of the event during an interview with the Charleston City Paper.
“The live music aspect of this fashion show is not seen within the South as much,” Brown said. “We are already pushing the boundaries by infusing visual art with fashion design, but adding a live entertainment aspect and showcasing short interview clips of the designer’s process is going to be a show-stopping experience.”
By exploring this intersection, she said the museum and participating designers hope to bridge the gap between traditional art mediums and wearable art forms, from existing solitarily confined on a painted wall to moving freely on a living, breathing body.
“When thinking about all of the mediums that we welcome, I noticed that we rarely explore fashion,” Brown said. “I thought it would be a great idea to invite these designers to present the artwork in our permanent collection in a special way. I knew that I wanted each designer to be unique to one another, offering several different perspectives.”
Among the featured designers are Hunter Hardee of Unsorted, Dev Smalls of RèJuvón and Andrea Tuton of A Plus. Each shared their viewpoints, reflecting on the inspirations and messages they want their capsule collections to evoke.
Hardee said his goal was for “the pieces to pull people in like they’ve stumbled upon something familiar yet foreign. There’s a quiet tension, something just beneath the surface. I like the idea that each piece carries its own weight, even if its story is unclear. I want the work to linger, leaving space for interpretation rather than a single message.”
Smalls echoed that sentiment, adding, “I want everyone to be open-minded viewing this collection. While it may reflect pain or the opposite for some, I want people to see the beauty in it. Like when I dived deeper into Hale Woodruff’s portrait, I wanted viewers to feel the raw emotion I convey and the stories of every Black person in America, even when untold verbally.”
Tuton said she hoped her collection takes viewers to a daydream.
“Elysian Paths celebrates life as a lovely, real fantasy about Charleston, a moody, gothic place full of secrets, birth and beauty. It’s unbothered, moving at its own pace, and in the end, will return to the sea, swallowed up in an epic death for this ephemeral icon.”
The bigger picture
Sew Surreal isn’t the only fashion-forward focus of Art Charleston. Statement Pieces: Contemporary Fashion Design, currently on view at the Gibbes, features archival runway pieces from legendary Alexander McQueen, sculptural Commes des Garcons and voluminous Molly Goddard donated on behalf of Barrett Barrera Projects juxtaposed against paintings from the Gibbes’ permanent collection which includes works stretching from the 1770s to the 2020s. New and already nationally acclaimed, the exhibition established a precedent for the museum to discuss fashion within the context of art and painted the scene for what’s to come in the next month.
“The Gibbes extends invitations to both emerging and nationally recognized artists of all backgrounds and is committed to cultivating an experience that is diverse and affirming,” Brown said of the museum’s eagerness to support fashion design as a new visual medium.
With Sew Surreal on the horizon, the excitement in Charleston’s creative community is palpable. And by transforming the Gibbes Museum into a surrealist dreamscape, organizers said attendees will have an unforgettable experience of witnessing live dialogue between these two distinct art forms.
“Stories, both individual and collective, are crucial to maintaining relevance, preserving perspectives and presenting fresh interpretations on historic art forms and works,” according to Angela Mack, president and CEO of the Gibbes.
“We hope that visitors who explore our museum can connect their own stories, ideas and interpretations to the works that they see on view. [Art Charleston] offers the opportunity for the Gibbes to reach a wider audience with visual arts.”
General Admission tickets, $50; VIP tickets, $100 at gibbesmuseum.org/programs.
The participating designers are: Brandon Alston (Fresh Prince Fits),; Jared Major (Jared Major-Wearable Art), Natalie Sanchez (Made In Heaven), Susu Smythe (Kiku Refashion) Keiko Striplin (Kei.koakutsu.designs), Shaniequa L. Washington (Zuriel Kingdom Collections), Hardee, Smalls and Tuton.
