FASHION IN THE CITY, REBELLION and PEACE (c) By Polly Guerin

Fashion never disappoints!!! It makes us all marvel at the theatrics on the runway, the rebellion of style and the ever on-going message of peace through fashion statements. Only in New York, the best ofNew York my friends. Here’s the scoop!!!
BEYOND REBELLION: Fasten your seat belt!!! Take a ride on the wild side and go and see  "Fashioning the Biker Jacket" exhibit, organized by the graduate students in the fashion and Textile Studies program and the Museum at The Fashion Institute of Technology. Image: Schott, Perfecto jacket, black leather, circa 1980, USA. Courtesy The Museum at FIT purchase.
Find out about the genesis of the biker jacket and its evolution into a high-fashion garment now coveted by fashionistas worldwide. Although the biker jacket emerged in the early twentieth century as a protective garment to shield riders from the elements, leave it to the fashionistas to claim the biker jacket as their own.
The mystique of the biker jacket has attracted movie stars, young adults and some senior citizens and of course, fashion designers, leading labels such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Yves Saint Laurent and Rick Owens to name a few, who are featured in the exhibit.
Where did this function fashion come from? Well, over the years the biker leather jacket evolved from utilitarian outwear to icon symbol of rebellion, function, and “cool.” By the 1950s, due in part to its appropriation by motorcycle gangs, associations fostered by the movies as The Wild One the jacket has become an emblem of the outlaw biker.

The final section of the exhibit explores the avant-garde reinterpretations of the classic biker jacket such as the 2005 Comme des Garcons ensemble from the Biker and Ballerina collection featuring a sculptural masculine black leather jacket with a girlish pink gingham and tulle skirt…obviously the allure and mystique of the jacket remains on exhibit through April 5, 2013. At 27th Street & Seventh Ave. Tues-Fri, noon to 8pm, Sat 10-5 pm. FREE admission. Image Right: Comme des Garcons (Rei Kawakubo), jacket and skirt, black leather, pink gingham and tulle spring 2005, Japan. Courtesy The Museum at FIT purchase.
HEADPIECES FOR PEACE and  FASHION AT FIAF Celebrates the new forces in fashion from the hottest designers and bloggers to filmmakers. In the Gallery: JESSICA SOFIA MITRANI’S HEADPIECES FOR PEACE offers a wiry examination of fashion and feminism. For the first time in New York, see this video along with the 11 headpieces made from printed fabric designed by threeASFOUR. Style Stories with Garance Dore, March 20 at 7pm, Inside Web-based Fashion Companies, March 26 at 7pm, Thom Browne, March 31 at 7pm.
THE FASHION SCOOP: Fashion runway took on high-jinks theatrics this season. Who doesn’t enjoy tabloid shot of celebrities at the supermarket? Women’s Wear Daily’s sightings: At the Chanel show, staged amid a mock supermarket, the aisles were teeming with celebrities. They marveled at the hundreds of mock products on display as models ventured down the runway with shopping card antics. At the Dolce & Gabbana show the velvet curtain opened to reveal an enchanted forest, with an enormous rotating tree that rises from the floor with falling snow. Then there was the full orchestra at Prada and Roberto Cavalli’s fireworks. What beats me is fashion as theater is fine but with all the theatrical elements does it really make us sit up and take notice of the clothes, the fashion trend or message, if there is one?
FUZZY WUZZY FASHION  Well, DSquared2 put us suddenly back in the Sixties in a mental institution (or rehab facility) where model Malaika Firth and her equally fashionista friends are waiting to be discharged. WHEW!!! What’s the fashion message…seems like by fall there is going to be a lot of fuzzy wuzzy fur flying around the fashion world in fantastically different fur coats.…and I wonder, dear readers, what are those anti-fur groups going to do about it? Watch as the protest fur action unfolds later this year. ALL DOLLED UP Jason Wu has designed a fashion doll for retailer Montaigne Market. Priced at 150 Euros or $200, at the current exchange rate, the limited edition of 250, is a replica of a style from his spring collection.

Ta Ta Darlings!!! Pollytalk went to the preview of ‘Beyond Rebellion,’ it’s a real eye-opener! Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon. Visit Polly’s website pollytalk and in the left hand column click on my other Blogs on fashion, visionary men and hidden treasures in New York.