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The Arts Intel Report

Generation Paper: Fashion of the 1960s

A paper caftan on view in “Generation Paper.”

Mar 18 – Aug 27, 2023
2 Columbus Cir, New York, NY 10019, USA

Reveling in the fleeting moment of “now,” paper dresses of the 1960s offered a shiny new page of futuristic simplicity during fashion’s most tumultuous decade. An unlikely marriage of avant-garde design and the promotional arms of corporate paper manufacturers, they were also testament to a society-wide belief in the utopian fruits of technology. “Generation Paper: A Fashion Phenom of the 1960s” originated at the Phoenix Art Museum (PAM), where it began to take shape in 2021, after Phoenix collector Kelly Ellman presented the museum with 85 paper garments—mostly unworn, often in their original packaging. She’d amassed them over 30 years, buying from other collectors as well as specialty stores and the online digital market. Now the show comes to the Museum of Arts and Design, with new additions taking the place of pieces that were too fragile to travel. —Joel Lobenthal

Photo: © Phoenix Art Museum