VIENNA, Austria — A selection of colorful Rudi Gernreich dresses contrasting with the all-black sleek Helmut Lang looks at the entrance of the MAK Museum of Applied Arts here sets the tone of the first comprehensive exhibition of Austrian fashion.
The designs are strategically placed on a powerful 21.3-foot-high open installation created by architect Gregor Eichinger, which allows visitors to directly experience about 250 fashion pieces, from clothes to shoes, handbags and accessories by 60 designers, with a 360-degree view.
“We are all children of Tetris,” said Eichinger about the concept behind the towering structure, inspired by the classic Eighties game. “Fashion is about movement and living in clothes, and this helps get the 3-D sense into space.”
Hermann Fankhauser, one half of the Wendy & Jim design duo with Helga Ruthner, said the installation shows “an intellectual reasoning behind it, not just placing dresses on a doll, or a mannequin.” In 1999, the designers were the first from their nation to participate in Festival de la Mode in Hyères and they were students of Lang at the University of Applied Arts linked to the MAK. From Lang, Fankhauser learned that the “key to success is to work on your own language, and
The designs are strategically placed on a powerful 21.3-foot-high open installation created by architect Gregor Eichinger, which allows visitors to directly experience about 250 fashion pieces, from clothes to shoes, handbags and accessories by 60 designers, with a 360-degree view.
“We are all children of Tetris,” said Eichinger about the concept behind the towering structure, inspired by the classic Eighties game. “Fashion is about movement and living in clothes, and this helps get the 3-D sense into space.”
Hermann Fankhauser, one half of the Wendy & Jim design duo with Helga Ruthner, said the installation shows “an intellectual reasoning behind it, not just placing dresses on a doll, or a mannequin.” In 1999, the designers were the first from their nation to participate in Festival de la Mode in Hyères and they were students of Lang at the University of Applied Arts linked to the MAK. From Lang, Fankhauser learned that the “key to success is to work on your own language, and
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