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Paris, Capital of Fashion

Join Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology for her talk Paris, Capital of Fashion. For more than 300 years, Paris has played a very important role in the history of fashion. Dr. Steele will discuss how and why Paris became widely regarded as the international capital of fashion.  

As author, curator, and editor, she has been instrumental in creating the modern field of fashion studies and in raising awareness of the cultural significance of fashion. Steele has organized more than 25 exhibitions since 1997, including The CorsetLondon FashionGothic: Dark Glamour, Daphne GuinnessA Queer History of Fashion, and Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color.

Since 1981, the Steven & Dorothea Green Critics’ Lecture Series has introduced internationally renowned artists, museum curators, scholars and critics to the South Florida Community. These speakers have shaped art history through their scholarly, creative, and leadership contributions.  They have inspired us to think critically, investigate further, and consider the discourses and practices that shape the world of art.

Image caption: Louis Vuitton (Marc Jacobs), shoes, fall 2004, France. The Museum at FIT, 2005.53.1, Photograph © The Museum at FIT