Photo: FIT

FIT’s Fashion and Textile History Gallery opened its Sporting Life exhibit today- a retrospective of sportswear’s miraculous evolution over the past 150 years. Divided by athletic pastime rather than era, the exhibit displays rare examples of woolen swimsuits, riding habits, and bloomer ensembles beside their modern-day counterparts like Brazilian bikinis, jodhpurs, and Lance Armstrong-esque gear. There is also Manolo Blahnik’s uncanny interpretation of LL Bean’s duck shoes, Abercrombie & Fitch ice skates, and pieces from Jean Paul Gaultier’s long extinct diffusion line. Most of the items included are part of the Museum at FIT’s permanent collection, which of course is New York City’s largest closet on record.

Yesterday at an advanced preview, we got a chance to speak to co-curators Jennifer Farley and Colleen Hill who walked us through the exhibit and explained their interesting work process.

ELLE: When do you think sportswear began?

FIT: It started in the 1850’s, but the riding habit was the first real tailored garment for women- up until the 1920’s it was worn with skirts, but it was the fist kind of menswear as womenswear-type garment.

ELLE: Why did you decide to do an entire show about sporting?

FIT: We have been interested in showcasing parts of the collection that haven’t been seen lately, and most of the pieces on display haven’t been seen before!

ELLE: What is the curatorial process like, do you just go into the archive and pull pieces?

FIT: We first go through our extensive digital database and then go into the archives and pull pieces, but we try not to sift through the garments too often because many of them are very fragile. Sometimes when you go to pull out one piece, you end up finding another that works even better.