New York (CNN) — Fashion lovers, put on your walking shoes: It’s time to see the best of the catwalk and beyond with a whirlwind tour of New York’s museums.
Museum at FIT
As a first stop for fashion historians, it’s only natural to go to the source: The Museum at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology), a few blocks south of New York’s Fashion District.
Brooklyn Museum
Visitors travel through Star Trek-esque showrooms via “Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion” at the Brooklyn Museum.
Jonathan Dorado/Brooklyn Museum
In the exhibition, visitors travel through Star Trek-esque showrooms and space-age disco environments populated with Cardin’s designs for clothing, accessories, runway presentations and other eye-pleasing delights.
Though at first glance much of it can seem like a throwback, it’s illuminating to consider how the still-living designer’s visions of gender-fluid fashion and his savvy shift from French couture into the world of mass merchandising seem all the more relevant in today’s design landscape.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
At Cooper Hewitt on the Upper East Side, “Nature” looks at ways technology can enhance or modify fashion.
Matt Flynn
Even if you’re not a designer yourself, it’s illuminating to consider how a garment is made and the physical challenges of creating fashion. And when it comes to celebrating the process of design, the Cooper Hewitt is always the place to go.
Museum of Arts and Design
“The World of Anna Sui,” an exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design, depicts one of Sui’s influences: the vibrantly painted scarves designed by 20th-century artist and entrepreneur Vera Neumann.
Jenna Bascom
The act of making is as much craft as it is art, and the Museum of Arts and Design brings this concept to the forefront. From the traditional to the technological, it showcases the techniques used in the creative process in its wide-ranging shows.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The venerable institution is a treasure trove of inspiration for the fashion-minded.
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Even when the Anna Wintour Costume Institute isn’t stomping the halls of the Met with its annual summer blockbuster exhibitions, the venerable institution is a treasure trove of inspiration for the fashion-minded.
Whitney Museum of American Art
The collaborative spirit of art and fashion intensified with the Whitney’s move to the Meatpacking district in 2015.
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The relationship between fashion and art has always been a strong one at the Whitney, and the collaborative spirit has become even more whimsical and wearable since the museum’s move from the Upper East Side to the Meatpacking District in 2015.
Exclusive shop items tied to the museum’s changing exhibitions (such as Hillflint sweaters and varsity jackets in honor of the latest Biennial) share shelf space with items by American designers that pay homage to the Whitney’s permanent collections and institutional history.
Stop in the Whitney’s museum shop and purchase a Thakoon tie in the same floral printed silk as the dress first lady Michelle Obama wore to the building’s dedication ceremony.
Kevin Hagen/Getty Images
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Until the new MoMA building reopens to the public on October 21, design and fashion fiends can get their fix at the flagship MoMA Design Store across the street from the museum.
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Until the new MoMA building reopens to the public on October 21, design and fashion fiends can get their fix at the flagship MoMA Design Store across the street from the museum.
MoMA’s design department champions the inherent value of good design in its permanent collection, and you’ll find that democratization in the Design Store’s inclusion of iconic streetwear such as New Era Yankees caps and Champion sweatshirts alongside Comme des Garcons wallets.
For a little art history with your casual wear, grab a MoMA version of the Armor Lux marinière, the traditional blue-and-white striped Breton shirt worn by Pablo Picasso and now available in variations such as rainbow Pride stripes.