episode 10 with Christophe Koné
In this episode
Caro Fowler and Christophe Koné examine the relationship between fashion and the museum, asking what is gained—and lost—when garments become museum objects. Their conversation explores the history of fashion exhibitions, the transformation of couture into cultural heritage, the decline of home sewing and pattern culture, and the changing relationship between clothing, the body, and materiality. Moving between the Met's new fashion galleries, archival practices, and contemporary museum displays, they consider how museums shape the ways we understand fashion as both a historical artifact and a living cultural practice.
TRANSCRIPT
Christophe Koné is associate professor of German and the director of the Oakley Center for the Humanities and Social Sciences at Williams College. He holds a Masters in German Studies from Université Lumière, Lyon 2, France, and a PhD in German Studies from Rutgers University. His research interests include German Romanticism, modernism, film studies, art history, comics, modern dance, and fashion studies. Koné is the author of Uncanny Creatures: Doll Thinking in Modern German Culture (University of Michigan Press, 2024). He is currently writing a book on Karl Lagerfeld, the late German-born fashion designer and long-standing creative director of Chanel.