A rare exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum aims to showcase the power of fusing design, art and science by combining the work of a groundbreaking fashion designer with local college art students.
The exhibition called “Lee Alexander McQueen & Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous,” which opened earlier this month, features the work of esteemed fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen and will soon showcase emerging fashion artists from the Pamella Roland DeVos School of Fashion at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University.
Exhibiting McQueen’s designs at the GRAM aims to inspire the fashion industry’s next generation by showcasing his work alongside select forward-thinking designs of emerging Grand Rapids designers at KCAD who are learning to use technology to shape their work.
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“We were really thrilled to be able to get this to Grand Rapids,” locally based fashion designer and philanthropist Pamella Roland DeVos told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. “To tie in the Kendall students is just so fantastic that they are being able to study some of this creativeness, the work of art — definitely of these pieces — and they can learn from looking at this.”
Starting Oct. 17, the work of five featured KCAD students will be on display at the GRAM, above the main exhibition that showcases more than 50 McQueen pieces from the collection of St. Louis, Miss.-based Barrett Barrera Projects.
McQueen, a London-based designer, was known for groundbreaking designs and the use of theatrics in his work. His career and line launched in 1992 with the debut of his “bumster trousers,” which changed the cut of traditional pants to a more low-cut design to reveal cleavage of the backside.
McQueen rose to prominence within the field and, just four years later, was named British Designer of the Year in 1996 for the first time. He received the same award three more times throughout his career in 1997, 2001 and 2003. McQueen further established himself in the industry with his own boutique in 1999.
In December 2000, the French multinational holding group specializing in luxury goods Kering — formerly known as Gucci Group — acquired a majority stake in McQueen’s company with McQueen remaining as creative director. McQueen died in 2010 after taking his own life.
GRAM Director and CEO Cindy Foley said it typically takes three years of planning to bring a traveling exhibit like this to the GRAM. When the opportunity arose to bring “Lee Alexander McQueen & Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous” to Grand Rapids, museum officials put a plan into motion. GRAM’s opportunity to host the high-demand exhibit came after another organization that was planning to host it was unable to take it.
“We thought, ‘I don’t think there’s a chance we could get it, but some magic things happened,’” Foley said. “It’s been a year in the making, and it’s an incredibly exciting opportunity to bring a name and a selection of garments that are fabulous. Alongside these, these photos kind of tell a deeper story about Alexander McQueen.”
French photographer Ann Ray and McQueen were initially connected when the designer was intrigued by the photographer’s images. Ray has said that McQueen wanted to hire her to take snapshots of his design process and behind the scenes of runway shows, but with little money to do so, he would exchange his designs for her photos.
Photographs in the exhibit — taken by Ray between the years of 1997 and 2010 — reflect her relationship with McQueen and are showcased alongside garments McQueen gifted to her over their working relationship.
During GRAM’s planning process, the idea of featuring student works in the exhibit was spearheaded by Lori Faulkner, professor and chair of the Pamella Roland DeVos School of Fashion of KCAD. The end product of the exhibit is a culmination of plans to give a valuable experience for students who plan to enter the fashion field, Faulkner said.
“I would have never guessed we would have been able to show our pieces next to Alexander McQueen, (who) is literally one of the biggest fashion designers and most well known,” said Zayne Cutrara, a senior at KCAD. “I think it’s going to be really cool to put on my resume. I’m going to have really amazing photos to take from my portfolio.”
The Daniel and Pamella DeVos Foundation — the philanthropic organization of Roland DeVos and local businessman Dan DeVos, a son of Rich and Helen DeVos who’s involved in various sports and entertainment ventures as CEO of DP Fox Ventures — sponsored the exhibit. GRAM declined to disclose the foundation’s financial contribution.
Roland DeVos is a Grand Rapids local who is not only a philanthropist but who debuted her couture collection in the fall of 2002.
DeVos started her involvement at the GRAM at 25 years old. As she has grown her professional career and philanthropic contributions, she aims to draw attention to the intersection of art and fashion. Throughout the years, she “jumped” at opportunities to do anything in fashion with the museum, noting the Princess Diana exhibit held at the GRAM in 2010 and the current McQueen exhibit.
“I think it opens everyone’s eyes a little bit more to fashion and I’m very happy that people are seeing fashion much more as art than they did before. Many museums really around the world are showcasing fashion designers,” DeVos said. “If you live in New York, of course, you are able to see exhibitions like this, but in Grand Rapids — it’s just so wonderful again for us to have it here, and for (students) to see the different techniques.”
Career readiness for creatives
Faulkner decided to integrate the exhibit into the curriculum for her Innovative Techniques Class this fall.
The upper-level course teaches students about classic couture techniques — often used by designers like Coco Chanel — and newer techniques that explore new technology in design.
Faulkner said partnering this course with the exhibit fits with McQueen’s style and tactics that embrace technology, such as digital printing and laser engraving.
Similar to McQueen, Faulkner tasked students with pushing their creativity through innovation. Students were given guidelines to explore materials not typically used for clothing, like metals or plastics. Additionally, students were able to explore new techniques such as digital printing and laser engraving at the Dow Center FLEXlab at KCAD, a state-of-the-art digital fabrication facility.
The FLEXLab gives KCAD students access to 3D printers and scanners, laser and vinyl-cutting machines, wide-format printers and more.
Grace Anderson, a senior at KCAD presenting her piece in the GRAM exhibit, was the first student to use FlexLab’s laser engraving technology on velvet. Anderson said she was “a little bit of a guinea pig” when it came to creating her design, which features a black satin dress and a laser-embossed red velvet cape.
Anderson made several appointments to test the velvet to see how far the fabric would need to be burned so that it would properly create an engraved pattern. The experience of exploring technology as a resource in fashion has pushed Anderson’s idea of what the future of design could be.
“I think the possibilities are endless, especially being the first person to use this laser. It just opened my eyes to how many other things we could be using technology for. You know, 3D printing or even screen printing,” Anderson said. “There are so many different ways that you can use it to innovate and create new ideas and new processes.”
The exhibit also illuminates how McQueen and emerging designers set themselves apart in the larger fashion industry. In 2022, the global apparel market was estimated at $1.5 trillion and is forecasted to grow into a $2 trillion industry by 2027, according to Statista.
In a growing field, the student designs in the GRAM exhibit draw attention to how a variety of fields — including science, technology, math and computer science — can be an asset to the fashion design field, Faulkner said.
Faulkner added that combining different methods and collaboration with others is key during the artistic process.
“That’s maybe the most important part of this process for both my students, for the GRAM, for the community, is seeing that you don’t have to do things yourself,” Faulkner said. “And when you can collaborate with others and in other fields, we can come up with something really exciting and new that’s never been done before.”
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