Items: Is Fashion Modern? explored the present, past—and sometimes the future—of 111 items of clothing and accessories that have had a strong impact on the world in the 20th and 21st centuries—and continue to hold currency today. Driven first and foremost by objects, not designers, the exhibition considered the many relationships between fashion and functionality, culture, aesthetics, politics, labor, identity, economy, and technology.

Items invited some designers, engineers, and manufacturers to respond to some of these indispensable items with pioneering materials, approaches, and techniques—extending this conversation into the near and distant futures, and connecting the history of these garments with their present recombination and use. These objects were commissioned for the exhibition. Designers VERBAL and YOON produced a deconstructed version of the Cartier "Love" bracelet, responding to the concept of being locked by love.

The exhibition Items: Is Fashion Modern? took place at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from Oct 1, 2017 to Jan 28, 2018.

Organized by Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, and Michelle Millar Fisher, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design.