Objects in Trouble

Objects in Trouble is a collaboration between the Palais Galliera—Musée de la mode de la ville de Paris and the MA Fashion Studies program at The New School’s Parsons Paris. Objects in Trouble consists of four performances, each of which investigates an object in the Palais Galliera’s collection with a problematic history in relation to issues of race, colonialism, or elitism. Moving away from the canonical style of interpretation typical of museums, often influenced by celebrity culture, authorship, and myth creation, students propose an alternative critical interpretation of the artifacts. They explore the way these objects reflect the controversial logics of fashion—from its binary discourses to its profanization of cultures, from its unfavorable depiction of the female figure to its exploitative practices. These interpretations put fashion on trial, showing how these “objects in trouble” should not be simply condemned but rather seen as opportunities to rethink the way museums explain the values of fashion.