MoMA PS1 Rebuilds Its Forgotten 1980s Fashion Exhibitions

MoMA PS1 in Queens has opened "New York Fashion at PS1, 1980–1984," an exhibition reconstructing four long-forgotten fashion shows that ran at the institution more than four decades ago. It stays up through March 15, 2027, and opens alongside the museum's latest show, "Hard Art."

The original series, curated by the late Hollywood Di Russo, ran from 1980 to 1984 and blurred the line between fashion and fine art at a moment when downtown New York's art scene was rewriting the rules. Its story might have stayed buried if assistant curator Kari Rittenbach hadn't joined PS1 in 2022 and received a tip about the forgotten programming.

Rittenbach wanted to learn more, and she wasn't alone. As PS1 archives from 1976 to 2000 migrated to MoMA, archivist Jonathan Lill also wanted the materials to find an audience. So Rittenbach set out to piece the exhibitions back together with scarce direct information.

"There are correspondences, notes, photographs, contact sheets, press releases, invitations, posters, videos, but it's not comprehensive," Rittenbach told Galerie. "Through show notes, I realized the Charles James show probably had the highest exhibition insurance value in the series."

That Charles James exhibition, held in 1981, came together through Homer Layne, the couturier's last studio assistant, who oversaw the James archives and later donated the designs to the Met. It laid groundwork decades before the Met's 2014 blockbuster "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" renewed interest in the American couturier.

What can visitors actually see?

Don't expect a Costume Institute-style display. Rittenbach says the new show leans on supporting materials and recreations of aspects of the original exhibitions.

"The shows challenged designers to interpret their visual language into a work of art in mediums such as sculpture or video. Many responded in very avant-garde ways," she said.

The strongest recreation comes from the 1982 Willi Smith exhibition. For the original, Smith dipped his designs in white plaster and laid the items in vertical lines across the gallery floor, forming three linear tableaux. Rittenbach rebuilt one by sourcing a vintage Willi Smith Butterick pattern, commissioning a seamstress to recreate the clothes, then dipping them in plaster. A vinyl display on the wall recreates the original sculpture.

A lively video by pioneering video artist Les Levine anchors the show. It screened at 1984's "Fashion Video" exhibition, timed to MTV's redefinition of culture. It features an upbeat 80s song, downtown creatives including dance duo Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, and models meandering through the gritty downtown streets in colorful outfits, alternative hairstyles, and makeup that is part Memphis-movement and Robert Nagel.

"The video is wild and really portrays the city then. You see optimism, which feels exciting. It's lively and in the moment of messaging through clothing," Rittenbach said. "Willi was a streetwear, aka 'street couture,' designer who pioneered gender fluid clothing."

The video also documents Smith's art T-shirt collaboration, for which emerging artists including Keith Haring, Futura 2000, Barbara Kruger, and Jenny Holzer submitted art printed on WilliWear T-shirts.

"Despite commercial success, Willi continued to work with artists," Rittenbach continued. "Reflecting on Barbara Kruger's influence on Supreme makes me think of Willi's genius. It's hard to imagine what would've happened if he hadn't passed so young."

Who else is in the show?

Julio Espada, whose 1980 show kicked off the four Di Russo-curated exhibitions, attended the preview and recreated a tissue-paper, origami-inspired headdress and bodice piece on a mannequin. With Betsey Johnson's blessing, the museum also recreated snippets from her installation tied to her wedding to John Cale, shown at the 1983 PS1 show.

Di Russo herself was a study in character. A makeup artist by trade and a Studio 54 fixture close to PS1 board members Stephen Reichard and Renny Reynolds, she was dubbed a "Fashion Femme Fatale."

"She was a character, born in Florida to a circus family; raised in Texas and had made up her own manner of speaking. David Mamet once recorded her voice because he was obsessed with her," Rittenbach explained.

Her curatorial model was pointed. "Hollywood's approach was to work with living designers. She was really modeling the program against Diana Vreeland and the Costume Institute, which felt very dead to her. She acknowledged fashion designers as being incredibly engaged in creating a visual reality, thus strongly influencing culture but also how one perceives the world," Rittenbach added.

The series coincided with the seminal 1981 PS1 show "New York/New Wave," curated by Diego Cortez, which gave Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring their first appearances at the museum and mapped the emerging downtown scene.

The new show also includes materials from an exhibition curated by the late Richard Flood, the New Museum's chief curator, devoted to designer Yeohlee Teng. Teng attended the preview.

"Richard Flood taught me everything; he was my hero and amazingly creative guy. We put up the show together. My work is very sculptural, and the lighting makes shadows on the wall, which is part of the art," Teng recalled. "It was an interesting time in fashion; we socialized with artists, we knew them. Everyone was a character, and being artistic and creating work together felt very organic."

Why did the original series end?

Rittenbach posits the shows petered out once Di Russo's film career took off and the National Endowment for the Arts cut funding during Reagan's first term. The closest PS1 came to similar programming since was the 2015 "Greater New York" show, where designers Susan Cianciolo, Mary Ping of Slow and Steady Wins the Race, and Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta exhibited creations. Eckhaus and Latta also showed a collection during NYFW at PS1 in February 2016.

The revival signals more than nostalgia. PS1 has already slated "Malvestir," a fashion exhibition, for spring 2027, promising more fashion-meets-art moments after this one closes on March 15, 2027.