Friday, October 6
6:00 - 7:00 p.m

Neiman Marcus: A Fashion Capital

Presented by:
Myra Walker – Curator, Texas Fashion Collection / Fashion on Main

Location:
Smith Auditorium at Meadows Museum SMU
5900 Bishop Boulevard
Dallas 75275
214-768-2516

Cost $10 per person
Seating is limited

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

Neiman Marcus: A Fashion Capital

Myra Walker – , Director and Curator Texas Fashion Collection School of Visual Arts, University of North Texas Denton, Texas

This lecture will examine the role played by Neiman Marcus in Dallas during the height of 20th-century fashion, the 1950s. Neiman Marcus, whose world-renowned Stanley Marcus co- founded the original Texas Fashion Collection in 1938 with his brother, Edward, in honor of their aunt Carrie Marcus Neiman brought culture and high fashion to Dallas, directly from Europe. Much to the delight of their customers, Neiman Marcus created the tradition of the “Fashion Exposition” where the latest haute couture suits and dresses from Paris were modeled with great fanfare. They also created the coveted Neiman Marcus Fashion Award, that went not only to designers, but to celebrities and movie stars who Neiman Marcus felt projected a fashionable image.

Since the early days of the Texas oil boom, people have made their way to Dallas to shop at Neiman Marcus, traveling far to reach this shopping Mecca. The store is tied to the history and lore of Dallas where Neiman Marcus has impacted culture and commerce since 1907. Walker will discuss the allure of Neiman Marcus during the fifties and how their focus on the best -- designers, buyers, and customers -- became an integral part of modern fashion history.

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About Myra Walker
Professor Myra Walker has been a curator at the Texas Fashion Collection at UNT since 1987, where she also teaches courses in fashion history. Walker is the guest curator at the Meadows Museum of Art for an exhibition entitled Balenciaga and His Legacy: Haute Couture from the Texas Fashion Collection, which opens February 4, 2007. There will be an exhibition catalog of the same title published in November by Yale University Press, UK. Walker is also curator for a new exhibition space, Fashion on Main, which opens this fall with its first exhibition, “Flights of Fancy” at 1901 Main in the Universities Center at Dallas. Walker is a member of the Costume Society of America and the American Association of Museums.