Is Fashion Art? Fashion History & Archive Culture with Parsons Professor Alexis Romano | S14E6

Is fashion art? Why is archive fashion dominating modern style? What can postwar Paris, May 1968, and the 1970s teach us about fashion today? On Pair of Kings, Sol and Michael sit down with Dr. Alexis Romano, fashion historian and professor at Parsons, for a deep dive into fashion history, French prêt-à-porter, museum curation, oral history, fashion photography, and the everyday people who make clothing meaningful. Alexis explains how ready-to-wear challenged haute couture after World War II; how fashion magazines such as Vogue and Elle become historical archives; why May 1968, second-wave feminism, and counterculture rarely translate into simple outfit changes; and how consumers, editors, models, photographers, and makeup artists reshape the historical record. The conversation covers The Met’s Costume Art exhibition, Rick Owens in museums, Mollie Parnis, Vera Maxwell, Claire McCardell, Halston and Ultrasuede, Théâtre de la Mode, 1970s punk and disco, the “beige decade,” The Row, Ralph Lauren, Demna, corsets, subculture, cultural appropriation, fashion magazines, physical media, digital archives, TikTok rage bait, vintage fashion, archive culture, and whether designers have made anything truly new since 1970. This is integrated fashion: clothing understood through art, politics, history, media, technology, identity, collecting, and everyday life. SUBSCRIBE for fashion history, menswear deep dives, archive fashion, runway analysis, and cultural criticism. LIKE if you want