The pinnacle of pink
At first blush, Fashion Institute’s ‘Pink’ exhibit arouses a colorful, bright awakening
By DANIEL KUSNER | Sept. 18, 2008
NEW YORK — The Fashion Institute of Technology’s brilliantly variegated new exhibit is “Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color,” which runs through Jan. 5.
Curator Valerie Steel traces the history of the salmon-rosé intermediate color that even the Sex Pistols used to highlight their name on that first masterpiece album-cover.
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| THINK PINK: From breast-cancer ribbons to upside-down AIDS triangles to prison uniforms to colored glasses. [Photos: Kusner] |
Gallerygoers can explore Janelle Monáe’s polarizing “PYNK”-video leggings, which is how designer Duran Lantink salutes female anatomy.
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| MOVE OVER, PUSSY HATS: Lantink’s leggings emphasize distinctive gendering. [Photo: Kusner.] |
FUN FACT: With a dash of punk, Vivienne Westwood’s retail outlet, Sex, favored “fleshy fetish-pink and garish hot-pink.”
But MTV loudly amped up pink.
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| TAKE A LISTEN: Dr. Steele explains how rapper Cam’ron created his Killa-pink mink. [Photo: Kusner.] |
Models hired by Mary Kay Cosmetics greeted everyone at the exhibit’s opening in Manhattan’s Garment District.
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| SIGNATURE COLOR: Mary Kay Ash’s name was ubiquitous at FIT in NYC. [Photo: Kusner.] |
And the exhibit’s “Pretty In Pink” section examines Jackie Kennedy’s unforgettable “Chanel-style pink suit.”
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| BIG D PINK: John and Jackie Kennedy at Love Field [Photo: Art Rickerby.] |
