The 20th century saw male visions and constructs taking control of the Paris couture—beginning with Paul Poiret and going all the way to Galliano and McQueen, with Dior and Saint Laurent in between. As Coco Chanel said of Dior’s corsets and crinolines, “[He] doesn’t dress women. He upholsters them.” It was women designers who focused on clothing that allowed women to be both stylish and comfortable. Arcing from 1910 to 2022, “Women Dressing Women” showcases more than 70 female fashion designers, from the brilliant couturiers Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Madeleine Vionnet to the American designers Ann Lowe, Claire McCardell, and Isabel Toledo. Others in the show include Anifa Mvuemba, Simone Rocha, and the deeply experimental Rei Kawakubo and Iris van Herpen. These women, in different ways, address female freedom. After all, it can be fairly argued that no one knows how to design clothing for a woman’s body better than a woman! —Isabella Carter