Featuring one of the most iconic collections of 20th- and 21st-century women’s clothing in the United States, this exhibition includes 100 collection highlights, along with local loans of high fashion and haute couture. Showcasing designs from French couturiers, Japanese avant-garde designers, and other pillars of the fashion industry, including Christian Dior, Alexander McQueen, Christopher John Rogers, […]

Features an eclectic presentation of 60 objects from Indigenous traditions across the world, including regions of the American Southwest and Mexico; India and Pakistan, and the Indonesian islands of Bali, Java, and Sumatra. The first textile entered the museum almost 100 years ago, and since that time, textile arts have been regular additions to the […]

An exhibition of rare and artful cushions and bed covers woven by women for their households. Such textiles, many with inscribed dates from 1750 to 1840, were used or displayed for special occasions and were a significant form of decoration for the typical household. The design elements and patterns of colorful geometric patterns, exotic birds, […]

Carpets and canopies designated portable courtly spaces among nomadic groups. The Mughals of India used carpets and canopies to mark royal presence. Even when the Mughals settled in permanent stone structures, a special carpet (jharokha) signaled the window where the populace could see and petition the emperor from below. Other regional rulers all over India […]

In the late nineteenth century, Amish women adopted an artform already established within the larger American culture and made it distinctly their own. They pushed cultural limitations by innovating within a community that values adherence to rules,and developed community and familial preferences. The quiltsin Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women, all made between […]

Ever since the cultivation of silkworms was introduced to Japan from China during the third and fourth centuries CE., Japanese people have used silk to create items of clothing and decorative works of art for hundreds of years. Shimmering Silks: Traditional Japanese Textiles celebrates silk pieces from the collection of the SLAM, which has been […]

Folk art and craft are deeply rooted in traditions frequently passed down through generations. Steeped in cultural heritage, the techniques and skills are a living record of the past and a way to share stories today. They are intimately bound to the home and daily life. In this exhibition, interdisciplinary artist Shirin Towfiq explores the […]

Aloha wear is more than flowers. Spanning almost 90 years, Fashioning Aloha showcases the diversity and inspiration of design motifs in aloha wear—holokū (gowns), mu‘umu‘u, holomu‘u (dresses), and aloha shirts. Starting with the birth of aloha wear in the 1930s, when printed fabric depicting Hawaiian motifs developed, and continuing to the present with contemporary brands, this […]

From headdresses and helmets to turbans and crowns, explore the vital role of ceremonial headwear throughout diverse cultural customs, beliefs, and rituals. This exhibition features headwear from forty-two countries spanning Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America, most dating from the mid to late 20th century, with many types still worn […]