It is clear that this exhibition took a tremendous amount of time, conceptualization, and coordination to organize and pull off. From the thoughtful use of space and placement of the installations to the exhibition name (intentionally lowercased and capitalized “fashion after Fashion” to point attention to everyday fashion practices and the “capital F” Fashion system and institution), this exhibit succeeded in getting viewers to think differently about fashion, art, and design. And really, as educators and curators, Clark and Laamanen are well-qualified to be asking the provocative and conceptual questions that push our thinking about fashion forward. Yet because the objects and videos were presented without text, without a guide telling viewers how to interpret the objects and to frame their possible interventions, it is unclear if the exhibition succeeded on that point  — this is ultimately a question of strategy and personal preference to the degree of didactic teaching styles. It is up to the viewer to decide what they took away and what connections, if any, they made between the objects, art, design, and fashion.

            This is the one obvious and major risk to the exhibition design and curation strategy of letting the objects speak for themselves and a facet of the exhibit the curators were well aware of as it is a recurring question one faces when tasked with presenting and representing objects. Fortunately, this criticism is minor compared to where the exhibit succeeded, offering a nexus of collaborative work, practice, and expression. Instead of a one-night open studio or individual performances, this exhibition gathered emerging artists’ work under one roof, finding a fitting interdisciplinary, institutional home at the Museum of Arts and Design with the amenities to ensure high-caliber installation and the capacity to ensure the exhibition was cared for and its record preserved. As such, while the takeaway message might have been ambiguous, and indeed there may have been no single takeaway message across the six installations, the exhibit itself was straightforward in its provocation of the question of fashion.