Friday
Feb202009
A Marriage of Art and Fashion
Friday, February 20, 2009 at 11:11 AM Designer Isabel Toledo and her husband Ruben spoke at Kent State University in Kent, OH last night as part of a visiting artists series. The Kent State University Museum was host to an exhibition of the design duo's work in 2000, "Isabel and Ruben Toledo: A Marriage of Art and Fashion", and continues to offer a comprehensive online collection of the designers' work, viewable here. For a short video segment on Isabel and Ruben Toledo's visit, including comments on the lemongrass dress and coat designed for First Lady Mrs. O, see below
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Reader Comments (10)
Mrs T - thank you, thank you, thank you for this post and the fabulous links !
I have admired this couple and their work for years and I find it poetic justice that it was Mrs O who finally brought them and their considerable, amazing talent to the forefront of fashion and artistry acknowledgment and to the public at large.
Sorry to be off-topic, but the First Lady just appeared before the Department of Transportation and she looked really beautiful. Her remarks were very warm and gracious. She's wearing what looks like a large pattern houndstooth short bolero jacket with a large gorgeous pin over a black turtleneck dress - crisp and chic. Her hair is swept up in a low twist. She looks terrific.
RJT, I'm glad to know you appreciate this wee post. I'm hoping there will be further coverage, as initally I had read NPR would cover the event.
I remember reading a profile on the Toledo's live/work space a few years ago, and followed Isabel Toledo's few seasons at Anne Klein - wonderful, as you say, that the couple's collective talent has been highlighted in recent weeks. I've learned so much more about them both, and am more fascinated than ever!
They seem to inhabit a charmed, romantic life filled w/ creativity, joy, sincerity, and love.
Inspiration for us all.
Isabel Toledo is one of those really wonderful, talented people who love their craft and pursue it passionately mostly for the love of it and less for the money and accolades...
She is true artist! And what a great partner and support she has in her husband...
I wonder why she doesn't do fashion shows? Maria Pinto, another Mrs. O favorite doesn't do them either. Is this just personal preference on the part of the designer or what?
Love Isabel Toledo's designs. Ruben Toledo's illustrations can be seen in both Nina Garcia's books, The Little Black Book of Style and The One Hundred.
Hi Stella
IT doesn't do shows as she has no backers for her company.
Just she and Ruben, and so she just does not have the funds to put on a runway show every season, although I wouldn't be surprised to learn that even if she did she wouldn't be interested. She follows her own fashion path.
Maybe she will get some backers now that she's done the inauguration outfit. Although in this economic climate, who knows?
Its easier to get a sense of who the designer is as an artist when there is a show, as the shows are so well documented now. I was enchanted by the inauguration outfit, as many people were but you get the feeling its only really a glimpse of what she's about.
Hello Stella -
This link will take you to a wonderful profile of Isabel and Ruben that appeared in the New Yorker magazine last year. It will give you insight into who these unique talents and their life together.
Enjoy
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_thurman