During a recent preview tour, show installer Michael Chavez was opening neatly packed boxes of clothing waiting to be inspected, each outfit falling from its tissue-paper shroud like buried treasure finding the light. The first box he opened, he told us, contained one of the exhibit's oldest piece: a stunning short evening dress from Saint Laurent's early days at the House of Dior. He gestured to the dress, now hanging on a rack under a plastic sleeve, lifted the tulle-lined skirt out and said, "It seems so simple on the outside, but when we opened it up, everything was so complex -- all the layers, the fastenings, the stitching, things you wouldn't ever even think about." Indeed, this is a show about details and the mysterious sculptural qualities of clothing. Pure magic.
Prepare to "ooh" and "aah" at each new discovery -- the green fox-fur coat, the elegant Mondrian dress, the sheath with the giant pink bow -- when you walk through this show, which remains on view through July 8 at the DAM, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway. Special admission is $22 (or $14 for members); reserve tickets at 720-913-0130 or http://ysldenver.com.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: March 25. Continues through July 7, 2012
