Dr Jill Biden Discusses The Power Of Fashion In America

Dr Jill Biden made a surprise appearance at this morning’s press preview for the Costume Institute’s In America: An Anthology of Fashion exhibition.

The first lady joined a roster of Metropolitan Museum of Art executives and curators, and Eva Chen of Instagram, the sponsor of the two-part In America show marking the 75th anniversary of the Costume Institute, to discuss the power of fashion. Even before her husband assumed office, Dr Biden has used clothing to communicate, be it the Stuart Weitzman boots that read “Vote” on the side that she sported on the campaign trail or the Gabriela Hearst dress she wore to the inauguration ball embroidered with federal flowers from every state and territory of the US.

Taking the podium this morning in floral print Tom Ford, a dress she’s previously worn to the G7 Summit in the UK and at the Olympics in Tokyo, Dr Biden recalled the sunflower appliqué she added to the cuff of the royal-blue dress she wore to this year’s State of the Union address, as a symbol of solidarity with Ukraine. “Sitting next to the Ukrainian ambassador,” she said, “I knew that I was sending a message without saying a word.”

In America: An Anthology of Fashion was conceived by the museum’s Wendy Yu curator in charge of the Costume Institute Andrew Bolton to showcase the creativity of unsung American dressmakers and designers, and to reconstruct the narrative of American fashion with them in it. “The history of American design is rich and deep; it is a story of innovation and ingenuity, of rebellion and renewal,” Dr Biden said. “It has often been written by those in the shadows, not recognised for their influence and art, but here at The Met their stories are told. Their voices are raised and their work can shine.”

Helping them do so are nine of America’s most renowned film directors, Martin Scorsese, Julie Dash, Sofia Coppola, and Chloé Zhao, among them, who have styled 100-or-so garments across 13 of the Met’s American period rooms. Bolton called each room a distinct short film that together added up to a feature film with interconnected stories. “Ultimately, the aim of the exhibition is to offer a more nuanced and less monolithic reading of fashion,” he said, then aptly ended his presentation by quoting the famous storyteller J R R Tolkien: “A story must be told or there’ll be no story, yet it’s the untold stories that are the most compelling.”