The International House of Breakfast and Fashion
Kevin Jones discussing the Oscar-winning costumes from "The Artist"
I was fortunate enough to snag an invitation to a breakfast and private museum tour hosted by the Fashion Institute of Design Merchandising for members of the international diplomatic corps.
The group was visiting Los Angeles on the Obama Administration’s latest Experience America tour, which included more than 50 Ambassadors and their spouses.
FIDM hosted a breakfast for about 25 of them in a tent on the lawn behind the design school. The guests hailed from Fiji, Nepal, Ukraine, Monaco, Peru, Germany, Papua New Guinea, Finland, Gabon, Georgia, Benin, Barbados, Kosovo, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Cyprus, Gambia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Malawi, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Slovak Republic, Turkmenistan, and Slovenia.
After breakfast, the group split up to tour the FIDM campus and hear more about the programs and to get a private tour of the Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition in the FIDM Museum Galleries.
Now in its 20th year, the exhibition features all five of this year’s Oscar-nominated costumes: “The Artist,” “Hugo,” “Jayne Eyre,” “W.E.,” and “Anonymous.”
"Anonymous"
Museum Curator Kevin Jones offered up plenty of behind-the-scenes details about the films during the tour. For example, he explained that Cartier recreated Wallis Simpson’s jewels for the film “W.E.,” only to destroy them after filming to preserve the value of the originals.
Jones explained that Michael O’Connor, the costume designer for “Jane Eyre,” is known for his attention to period detail. He created a child’s dress in a brown plaid in a nod to the popularity of plaid patterns at the time, thanks to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s frequent visits to Scotland.
"Jane Eyre"
The story of “Hugo” is told from the perspective of a child. Sandy Powell designed the costumes in bright, childlike colors and simple patterns like stripes and polkadots, Jones said.
"Hugo"
Jones also gave the group some insight into how FIDM prepares for the annual exhibition.
“This is a guessing game for us,” he said. “We had about 80 percent of the costume exhibition already up when the Academy announced the nominees.”
The exhibition also features some of the more than 15,000 costumes from its archives—including Rudolph Valentino’s matador jacket from “Blood and Sand,” sandals from “Spartacus,” a tunic from “Ben-Hur,” and Mae West’s sky-high platform shoes.
The Experience America trip was organized by the Diplomatic Partnerships Division of the Office of the Chief of Protocol. It is the ninth Experience America trip and the fifth under the current administration. Previous trips included New York, Chicago and New Orleans. In addition to touring FIDM during the Feb. 28–March 1 trip, the Ambassadors and their spouses visited the Port of L.A., the J. Paul Getty Museum, Inner-City Arts, Warner Bros, Paramount and Universal Studios, and the Universityof Southern California’s Stevens Institute for Innovation and COSA Automobiles.
FIDM’s Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition runs through April 28. For more information, visit ""www.fidm.edu"".
