Main Street, Louisville, KY

​

Chaired by: Lee Middendorf & Chris Welsh

​

"Anniversary"

​

Marking its tenth anniversary in 2022, KMAC Couture launched in 2013 as a distinct fashion event that allowed KMAC to showcase its unique position as a contemporary art museum that celebrates ideas at the crossroads of art, craft, and design. Some participants over the years have invented their own textiles and employed unconventional materials that help push the boundaries of wearability, constructing work that can be both costume and sculpture. Others have created fantastical garments with a more functional and durable quality, but that are likewise extraordinary in how they explore the range of possibilities for artistic expression through the items we wear, canvasing the human body in limitless ways. 

 

As we continue to honor the fullest range of creativity in our approach to KMAC Couture, for our tenth year we have chosen a theme that observes the spirit of anniversary and the accompanying feelings of great achievement, pride, joy, triumph, and remembrance. How do you imagine a garment that can reflect the look and feel of a birthday or the celebration of our annual collective trip around the sun on New Year’s? How could your school class reunion be encapsulated into a single outfit? Perhaps there is a favorite material that you’d like to work with from the list of traditional wedding anniversary gifts like 1st year paper, 2nd year cotton, or 10th year aluminum. There are a vast number of possibilities for the materials and ideas that you can work with to explore this theme. Are you someone who enjoys commemorating the summer solstice or the autumn equinox? If so, then the yearly anniversaries for the changing seasons could be an inspiration for your design. As the artists and designers who make this event so dynamic and special, we want to celebrate this year with you. Create a look that conjures a favorite or important day that you celebrate or remember each year and help make our 10th anniversary of Art Walks the Runway a show to remember.