Geoffrey Beene

Geoffrey Beene is one of the most innovative designers of the twentieth century. In 1950, after two years in Paris studying the dressmaking techniques of French couture, he arrived in New York. After designing for a number of ready-to-wear manufacturers, he opened Geoffrey Beene, Inc. in 1963, although it was not until he bought out his business partner in 1981 that he became truly independent. Since that time he has redefined the relationship of clothing to the human body.

Geoffrey Beene's designs inevitably lead to a reconsideration of how clothing is constructed. He has never liked traditional shaping techniques, such as darts and side seams: he says that they interrupt the flow of the garment and flatten out the figure. He strives to create clothing that enhances the body's three-dimensionality. When he designs, he drapes fabric directly over a model or dress form, a technique typical of the couture industry. By this method, Geoffrey Beene insures that his garments are based on the two essentials of good apparel design, sensitivity to the fabric and to the body it covers.

The exhibition's four sections, Molding and Shaping, Body Parts, Back to Front, and The Curved Seam, focus on important developments in Geoffrey Beene's innovative approach to clothing design.