ART & DESIGN
Interview by Maria Dunne
Featured image by Wayne Taylor, courtesy of NGV
Katie Somerville, a Senior Curator at the National Gallery of Victoria, gave her insights into Australian Fashion, the Melbourne Fashion Festival, and how the NGV fits in all this. Katie Somerville has worked at the NGV for over 21 years and has previously worked on the Board of the Fashion Festival.
How do you think fashion can contribute to a society?
Fashion contributes to a society in multiple ways. In ways that we are aware or conscious of, but also in ways that we aren’t. Fashion is highly connected to identity and self-expression and is a form of artistic endeavour. It is an artistic expression through the point of view of people in the industry, [who] make and design it, but also from the point of view of the industries around it like publishing, films, retailing and even in the tertiary sector too. There is so much that connects into fashion – it’s a way of […] feeding and propelling people’s sense of identity. Even people who say they don’t think about or don’t care about fashion are still making decisions about what they wear that still ultimately says something about themselves. I think it is inextricably bound to human experience. Both for expressing identity and creativity, but also at different times expressing status and power, so it’s a really key form of communication.
What do you think is the main reason it is so linked to identity?
Fashion operates in everything from the couture houses in Paris to the High street in Melbourne. […] There has been a rise in vintage fashion which people might choose to seek out to associate themselves with a particular era –[such as] the 1940s or the 50s – and what they imagine that era says about them or produces about their identity or their personality.
What do you think shaped your focus on fashion?
For me fashion, even at high school, was one of my favourite ways of understanding history. I was very interested in art history when I was younger as well, but I guess as a sub-stream of that [is] fashion. Partly for the historical idea but also the aesthetic too. The feel, the understanding, the process of how something gets made: I believe is a really interesting part of my job.
Are there any highlights of the 200 Years of Australian Fashion or the NGV program for VAMFF that you are excited about?
It is a really exciting exhibition; it is the first time any gallery in Australia has looked at Australian fashion from the 19th Century right through to today. There is one work in the exhibition by Dion Lee which will be literally delivered to the gallery a couple of days before the exhibition opens, so the idea of being able to reflect on the history but also what’s happening today is really important. Also the sense of what Australian Fashion can be in the early [days was] about mirroring what the European counterparts have been doing; for example, Paris has been a huge influence. […] What we are seeing now is Australian fashion really coming to its prime. It’s a really exciting time for Australian Fashion.
So finally, what is Australian fashion?
Well, you can find that out on March 5th at the NGV Ian Potter Centre.
But I guess it can be an array of things, we are so lucky to have such an array of amazing artists.
If you want to buy tickets to What is Australian Fashion? or 200 Years of Australian Fashion, or are just curious to learn more about the array of pieces the NGV has on or off display, be sure to check out their website here.
The symposium What is Australian Fashion? is on Sunday March 5, and 200 Years of Australian Fashion runs from March 5 until July 31.
