What: Art Meets Fashion: 1965-2015, an exhibition featuring fashions from the last 50 years with a majority of clothing coming from the Texas Fashion Collection at the University of North Texas

When: Aug. 22-Nov. 1

Where: NorthPark Center,8687 N. Central Expressway, Dallas. The exhibition will be between Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

Cost: Free

DENTON, Texas (UNT) – When NorthPark Center in Dallas wanted a fashion exhibition for its 50th anniversary, they turned to the University of North Texas' Texas Fashion Collection and its director Myra Walker.

Walker curated Art Meets Fashion: 1965–2015, which will run from Aug. 22 to Nov. 1 at NorthPark Center, considered the Dallas-Fort Worth area's most prestigious shopping center. The exhibition, part of the center's "50 Years of Style" celebration, features 29 pieces, with 24 coming from the Texas Fashion Collection.

Nancy Nasher, co-owner of NorthPark and advisory board member of UNT's College of Visual Arts and Design, requested Walker make a proposal for the exhibition and liked Walker's idea of highlighting art's influence on fashion. Walker wanted to include the art element since NorthPark Center features art installations throughout the building and the Nasher family founded the Nasher Sculpture Center, also in Dallas.

"Since I believe fashion is art, this is exactly the kind of show I love to do," Walker said. "Since I cannot cover the entire history of fashion in 29 examples, I had to choose the designers and the examples of their work that really spoke to the synergy of art and fashion."

An iconic piece of 1960s Pop Art is the Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup dress, on loan from the personal collection of Kristy Stubbs, who owns a Dallas art gallery.

For the 1970s, Walker selected an evening pantsuit that was a collaboration between artist Andy Warhol and designer Halston from the TFC archives. 

"There are lots of colors and patterns," Walker said. "It's a joyful, colorful exhibition and there's something special about each piece I chose."

Walker also chose two pieces from the late designer Oscar de la Renta that were worn by philanthropist Mercedes T. Bass, a frequent donor to the Texas Fashion Collection.

For contemporary work, Walker said, "I really wanted something to cap off that idea of art and fashion and to speak of the use of technology and how it's changed all of our lives."

She selected a dress by Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos, who design under the Peter Pilotto label. De Vos creates the dress designs, while Pilotto takes an image into the computer and manipulates the motifs for their unique textile designs.

Another artistic collaboration features German contemporary artist Thilo Westermann and ESCADA in which Westermann's pointillist images were taken into the computer and printed onto fabric.

For the exhibition, Walker was assisted by Edward Hoyenski, TFC collection manager for the Texas Fashion Collection, who helped document the items, and UNT alumnus Abraham Bencid, who served as photographer. Exhibition design is by Larry Leathers and dressing is by conservator Melanie Sanford.

In addition to serving on the advisory board of the Texas Fashion Collection, Nancy Nasher helps endow the UNT Nasher Lecture Series.

"I am pleased and honored to be asked by Nancy Nasher and for her to think so highly of the Texas Fashion Collection and our previous exhibitions," Walker said. "The College of Visual Arts and Design is lucky to have such a great friend."

About the Texas Fashion Collection:

The Texas Fashion Collection, part of UNT's College of Visual Arts and Design, is dedicated to the preservation and documentation of historically significant fashion, and serves as an educational and inspirational resource for students, researchers and the general public. The collection of top designers' works began in 1938 through the efforts of Stanley and Edward Marcus. The Dallas Fashion Group saw that it came to UNT in 1972 to support a growing fashion design program. Today, the collection houses more than 20,000 items of historic and modern fashion and accessories in a 4,500 square foot climate-controlled space.