Media Advisory: Guelph Museums fashions major exhibition

MEDIA ADVISORY

Guelph, Ont., April 11, 2016

She came from Guelph; she dazzled the world.

Guelph Museums fashions major exhibition about internationally-acclaimed fashionista and Titanic survivor Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon

  • What: Lucile: Fashion. Titanic. Scandal.
  • When: May 7 to November 13, 2016
  • Where: Guelph Civic Museum, 52 Norfolk Street, Guelph, Ontario
  • Who: Guest curated by award-winning author and historian Hugh Brewster

Background:

This May, Guelph Civic Museum will open its doors on a remarkable new exhibition, Lucile: Fashion. Titanic. Scandal.   Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon was the fashionista of the Edwardian era –everyone from chorus girls to royalty wore Lucile gowns. A trailblazing female entrepreneur, she invented the fashion show, launched a craze for big hats, made scanty lingerie respectable, and banished the corset. In 1912 she survived the sinking of the Titanic and the taint of scandal in its aftermath. Before becoming the world’s most famous couturiere of her day, with salons in London, Paris, New York, and Chicago, this glamorous woman spent her childhood as just plain Lucy Sutherland in the pioneering town of Guelph.

For the first time ever in Canada, guest curator Hugh Brewster has assembled a bold new exhibition to tell Lucile’s story.  Breathtaking Lucile gowns, hats, and lingerie, from private collections and museum vaults in Canada and around the world, will be displayed in a room that evokes her Paris salon. In a second gallery, a model of the Titanic will depict how she escaped from the sinking liner.  Videos, talks, tours and a host of activities will make this exhibition a must-see.

For more information, visit guelphmuseums.wpengine.com.

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Contacts:

Alex Boughen | Community Relations Coordinator, Guelph Museums
Public Services, City of Guelph
52 Norfolk Street
Guelph, ON  N1H 4H8
T: 519-836-1221 x3392
E: [email protected]
guelphmuseums.wpengine.com

Posted by Dawn Owen on April 14, 2016