Designing Women: Fashion Creators and Their Interiors
![illustration of three mannequins wearing dresses that have interiors superimposed on them](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-banner.jpg)
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Few creative fields exemplify the gracious art of living better than fashion and interior decoration. Designing Women: Fashion Creators and Their Interiors was the first exhibition to explore and celebrate the intersection of these profoundly influential and perennially beloved disciplines.
![an interior room with furniture and a woman sitting in front of a vanity in the back of the room in sepia tone](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-rose-room.jpg)
![yellow silk chiffon peignoir with fur collar and cuffs on a long kimono sleeve](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-lucile-90.180.4.jpg)
![dusty rose-pink silk chiffon, pale silk crepe, lilac purple and qua blue silk ribbon](/museum/images/designing-women-lucile-mfit-90.180.9.jpg)
Beginning in the late nineteenth century, an increasing number of women founded important couture houses in Paris, London, and New York. At the same time, interior decoration became a viable profession thanks to female innovators on both sides of the Atlantic. Rather than espouse masculine modernism, these "great lady decorators" appropriated the refined aesthetics of eighteenth-century French interiors. Belle Époque couturières ardently embraced their updated rococo ideals of comfort and luxury. By the interwar years, other styles— from art moderne sleekness to bohemian eclecticism—became increasing popular, as female designers regularly used interior decoration to enhance their brands and enrich their personal lives.
![impressionist oil on canvas painting of women in the early 1900s wearing closed-skirted dresses and hats, shopping at the house of paquin](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-chez-paquin.jpg)
![pink silk chiffon evening cape of several layers and ruffled trims](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-paquin-p83.19.7.jpg)
Each fashion designer in this exhibition was represented by at least one garment or accessory, drawn solely from The Museum at FIT’s permanent collection, and an interior image. From luxe, professionally-crafted couture salons and apartments to modest, self-decorated ateliers and homes, the spaces express the passion these female fashion creators have devoted to their magical interiors.
Curated by Patricia Mears, Deputy Director
![red with gold accent long sleeve top and pink ruffled collar paired with red pants](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-anna-sui2022.70.1.jpg)
![Anna Sui in her home, standing in between two doors next to a floor to ceiling bookshelf filled with books](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-anna-sui.jpg)
Fashion & Textile Conservation of a Lucile Gown
Before a circa 1912 Lucile gown could be exhibited in Designing Women: Fashion Creators and Their Interiors, it underwent extensive conservation treatment. Three short videos demonstrate how MFIT’s conservation team approached stabilizing shattered silk, replacing a disintegrating bodice, and matching existing fabric to reconstruct the neckline.
Videos are also available via our YouTube Playlist
![blue taffeta lucile dress](/museum/images/designingwomen-lucile-script1.jpg)
Weighted Silks & Inherent Vice (1 minute, 40 seconds)
![reconstructed bodice](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-lucile-script2.jpg)
Patterning & Reconstructing a Replacement Interior Bodice Lining (1 minute, 31 seconds)
![purple paint swatches](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-lucile-script3.jpg)
Painting Silk to Fill Losses in Bodice Neckline (1 minute, 35 seconds)
![blue taffeta lucile dress](/museum/images/designingwomen-lucile-script1.jpg)
![reconstructed bodice](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-lucile-script2.jpg)
![purple paint swatches](/museum/images/designing-women-mfit-lucile-script3.jpg)
Fashion and interior decoration exemplify the gracious art of living
From luxe, professionally-crafted couture salons and apartments to modest, self-decorated ateliers and homes, the spaces express the passion these female fashion creators have devoted to their magical interiors.
In the Press
Also featured in Fashion United (UK), Journal du Luxe (FR), New School Free Press, Wall Street Journal
Anna Sui: Fashion Design and Interior Decoration
Explore More on our Digital Guide
Image: Lucile evening gown, blue silk taffeta, blue chiffon, mauve ribbon, gilt lace, and metallic embroidery, c. 1912, England, gift of Mrs. Cora Ginsburg, 81.131.12