Contemporary fashion designed/made in Austria is the focus of the first comprehensive major exhibition on Austrian fashion design. A time travel through fashion design in all its facets from the 1980s until today shows the wide spectrum of designers who are from Austria, work here, or were educated here in fashion. Embedded into a spectacular, spatial installation by architect Gregor Eichinger, SHOW OFF: Austrian Fashion Design makes the artistic work of creative disciplines tangible on multiple levels in the context of fashion.
Fashion as an object in the form of an item of clothing is presented by significant fashion statements by approximately 60 designers from the past four decades. The exhibition begins with Rudi Gernreich’s late work, whose designs from LA in the late 1970s revolutionized the global approach to fashion, and Viennese U-fashion with its stars at the time, such as Ledea Muard, Marc Thomas Merz, or Schella Kann. Viennese cult labels such as Wendy&Jim and fabrics interseason, “big player” Andreas Kronthaler, for the past two years part of the label “Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood,” and the renowned younger generation—represented in the exhibition among others by Kenneth Ize—contribute to the formation of a multifaceted scene with an international standing. In her “Wiener Salon,” Susanne Bisovsky has been working on exceptional creations, which will be presented in the exhibition, since 1996.