Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History

The first exhibition focused on Isaac Mizrahi, the influential American fashion designer, artist, and entrepreneur. Through over 250 works, including clothing and costume designs, sketches, photographs, and an immersive video installation, this survey exhibition explores Mizrahi’s unique position at the intersection of high style and popular culture.

While best known for his work in fashion, Mizrahi’s creativity has expanded over a three decade career to embrace acting, directing, set and costume design, writing, and cabaret performance. Beginning with his first collection in 1987 and running through the present day, Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History weaves together the many threads of Mizrahi's prolific output, juxtaposing work in fashion, film, television, and the performing arts. Isaac Mizrahi’s inventive and provocative style brings complex issues into the arena of fashion, igniting a spirited discourse about high versus low, modern glamour, and contemporary culture. ... Uniting opposites is a Mizrahi signature, which can be seen in his many combinations of evening and sportswear, formal and casual, couture and mass market. ...

Organized thematically, Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History explores key trends in Mizrahi’s work, … A dramatic installation of 12 costumes for theater, opera, and dance explores Mizrahi’s wide-ranging work in performing arts—… Mizrahi has also created three new made-to-order coats for the exhibition. …A gallery filled with over 100 sketches from throughout Mizrahi’s career provides unique insight into the designer’s work. Sketching is fundamental to Mizrahi’s design process, and fabric swatches are often attached to the images, adding texture and dimension to the artfully rendered compositions. … The exhibition will conclude with a three-screen, immersive video installation showcasing content drawn from archival footage ….

Exhibition overview from the Jewish Museum website

Whether you go or not, the exhibition catalog  Isaac Mizrahi  presents his signature exuberant classically-American couture collections and explores his work in theater, film, and television. An interview with the artist offers an intimate perspective on his kaleidoscopic work in diverse media.