Third Thursday: Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion

#TransformingFashion: Every third Thursday of the month, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Oakland comes alive as the galleries stay open late, music floods the Hall of Architecture, and patrons enjoy activities, food and drink. But this past Thursday, the energy and excitement was palpable as a truly fashionable crowd came dressed to explore the work of Iris van Herpen’s otherworldly designs. The exhibition, which transported partygoers to another world through her futuristic (and somewhat post-apocalyptic) fashions, was eye candy for fashion bloggers such as Tori Mistick and Meryl Franzos who perused the exhibit with 800 of their closest friends and fashionistas, including Leslie McCallister and Evelyn Castillo. Colorful fur coats, 1980s styled-suits, platform heels and oversized sunglasses abounded as guests elevated their own fashion game — almost with the expectation that Ms. van Herpen might drop down from a cloud of steel-made smoke found in one of her designs. Photos were snapped and materials were analyzed as partygoers moved up and down the exhibit, some stopping two or three times to take in the same piece from different angles. Feeling inspired, patrons afterward enjoyed creating their own accessories using re-purposed materials from Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse in the Hall of Sculpture before finding their way to the impromptu dance floor in the Hall of Architecture. Pittsburgh, you never looked better.