About Annie Van Assche
A textile artisan and scholar, Annie Van Assche received an M.A. in Japanese Art History from the University of Hawaii. She literally wrote the book on kimono: Fashioning Kimono: Dress and Modernity in Early Twentieth-Century Japan (Milan, 2005), which was published to accompany an international traveling exhibition by London's Victoria & Albert Museum. She has worked as the Curator of Collections for the Morikami Museum in Delray Beach, FL and as Curator of Education for The Japan Society in New York, NY. Her essays appear in many publications including Timeless Beauty (2002) and Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco (2002). She recently curated two noteworthy exhibits in Italy featuring the Montgomery Collection of Japanese textiles: "Giappone color indaco" (2003, Milan) and "Avvolti nel Mito" (2005, Genoa). She lives in New York where she works as an independent curator, researcher and editor.
EVENTS
Ms. Van Assche will present a free lecture, "The Kimono and Western Dress in the Early 20th Century: a Revolution in Fashion," on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 7 p.m. in the Gleason Performing Arts Center, on the Florida Tech campus. This lecture highlights the infatuation with the kimono among Parisian fashion designers like Poiret, Vionett and Chanel in the early 20th century. Applying the kimono's straight-line cut to Western dress, such designers created a fresh new look, while also freeing women's bodies from the corset and bustle. In Japan, this fashion revolution also corresponds with technological advances in dyes that allowed for brighter and bolder kimono designs than ever before. Copies of Fashioning Kimono: Dress and Modernity in early Twentieth-century Japan will be on sale for a book-signing reception following the lecture.
On Friday, February 20, 2009, luncheon attendees will have an opportunity to meet Ms. Van Assche and hear her speak about stunning kimono from Florida Tech's own collection. In 2007, Norma Canelas Roth, a nationally renowned collector and member of the Florida Arts Council, donated thirty pieces of late 19th and early 20th-century Japanese textiles to Florida Tech. We will have selections from this beautiful collection featured in a special exhibit for our guests. Ms. Van Assche's presentation will be followed by a champagne reception, a silent auction and a gourmet lunch.