Design Inspiration

What inspires costume and textile artists? LACMA curators uncover how art made long-ago has sparked creativity for contemporary designers. Discover how paintings by an Italian monk inspired two sisters from Southern California to create a line of silk gowns, and how one designer's childhood visits to museums influenced her whimsical patterns. Writer, Director, Co-Producer: Marni Gittleman; Co-Writer, Co-Director: Julianna Ostrovsky; Researcher: Tamara Katoni; Camera: Eddy Colloton; Editor: Alexa Oona Schulz Special thanks to the administration, faculty, and students of Santa Monica Alternative School House. For more information about LACMA and the museum's costume and textiles collection, visit lacma.org. Image Credits: Fra Angelico Collection Sketch, 2011 © Rodarte LLC; Fra Angelico Collection © Rodarte LLC; Elsa Sunderland Collection © Henry Sunderland; American Museum of Natural History, New York, Man's Tunic (uncu) with tocapu and feline pelt design, from The Colonial Andes--Tapestries and Silverwork, 1530-1830, fig. 19, p. 157.jpg; Pachacamac, Central Coast, Private Collection, from Ancient Peruvian Textiles, plate 2, p. 195.jpg; Hermann and Margit Rupf Foundation, Kunstmuseum, Bern, Georges Braque, Houses at L'Estaque, from History of Modern Art, second edition, colorplate 43, p. 115.jpg Photo Credits: Italy, Florence, Museo Nazionale di San Marco, The Cloister © Sylvain Sonnet/Corbis Video © 2012, Museum Associates/LACMA