This episode of WYSO's Studio Visit series takes listeners to the Cincinnati Art Museum to meet Cynthia Amnéus, the museum's Chief Curator and Curator of Fashion and Textile Arts. Amnéus discusses her focus on women fashion designers, highlighting iconic figures such as Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons), Bonnie Cashin (Coach), Ann Lowe (who designed Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress), and the lesser-known 1930s designer Elizabeth Hawes, whose progressive views on comfort and gender-neutral clothing were ahead of her time. Amnéus also reflects on past exhibitions, including a 2017 show on Iris Van Herpen's 3D-printed sculptural fashion, and her current interest in sustainable designers like Collina Strada and Chopova Lowena.
The episode matters because it spotlights the Cincinnati Art Museum's fashion collection and its curator's commitment to elevating women designers who have historically been overlooked in a male-dominated field. By featuring designers who challenged conventions—from Hawes's early advocacy for trousers for women to Van Herpen's fusion of fashion and technology—the story underscores how fashion can serve as both personal expression and social commentary. It also highlights the museum's role in preserving and presenting fashion as an art form, connecting historical innovation to contemporary concerns like sustainability and climate change.