Java.DEC.20162-2

EMPHATICS: AVANT-GARDE
FASHION
at Phoenix Art Museum
By Jenna Duncan
From 1963 to 2013, the fashion-loving couple James
and Karin Legato operated their high-end, fashionforward
boutique Emphatics at One Oxford Centre
in Pittsburgh. When the family announced that the
50-year-old boutique would be closing its doors, the
community recoiled. Emphatics was highly visible and
well loved, not just in Pittsburgh but in international
fashion circles. Its imprint would be left on the world
of fashion for decades to come.
So it was welcome news for many when, at the
beginning of 2015, Phoenix Art Museum (PAM)
announced that it would be acquiring the couple’s
collection of garments and related ephemera, and
soon runway and couture highlights from the 1960s
through today would be on view in the museum.
“When they closed the store in 2013, they were advised
by Eric Shiner, director of the Andy Warhol Museum,
that they had a really important archive and they should
place it somewhere,” says Dennita Sewell, PAM’s
Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion Design.
“It’s a capsule from a particular time period,” Sewell
says. The collection begins in the late 1960s, when
the Legatos were regularly traveling to New York
City for buying trips. They began to acquire pieces for
their shop by designers whose names were unknown
to most shoppers at the time, people like John
Galliano and Betsey Johnson.
The Legatos expanded their fashion purchasing forays
to Paris in the late 1970s through the 1980s, Sewell
explains. Emphatics was the first clothing shop in the
United States to feature Jean Paul Gaultier. As a
result, they began to draw a following of fashion
worshipers from New York City and surrounding
regions to their cutting-edge Pittsburgh boutique.
“That’s part of why it’s special. They had this very
fashion-forward store in a very unlikely place,”
Sewell says. The Legatos actively engaged and
educated their customers about haute trends and
high fashion. Shoppers at Emphatics did not simply
come home with loaded shopping bags, they became
immersed in a unique cultural lifestyle, as well.
Phoenix Art Museum had the opportunity to purchase
the archive last year, and this is the first time that it
has been on view in the United States. The museum
had to make room in its storage vault for the many
new pieces. Sewell estimates there are about 400
items in the collection, and around 80 percent is
currently on view, she says.
At the entry to the exhibition, there is a small
video-viewing cove that is plastered with images of
Karin Legato, looking like a young, bleached-blonde
Donatella Versace. The large, airy Steele Gallery is
encircled by looks, with ensembles mostly grouped
by designer. Most of the garments PAM acquired are
unworn and many still have the tags on them. Also
on view in the center of the room is an assortment of
invitations, posters, perfume bottles and boxes, and
other unique ephemera.
There’s a 1984 photo of Karin Legato with Azzedine
Alaïa, who had been named fashion designer
of the year, at the very first Oscars de la Mode,
hosted by the French Ministry of Culture. The
south wall is adorned with posters, including three
very colorful ones from Issey Miyake’s 1994, 1995
and 1998 runway shows. There’s another poster
autographed by Thierry Mugler (“’84 L.A.!”) and
a Hitchcock-like parody by Alexander McQueen,
titled “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” done in
the style of a Vertigo movie poster.
There are many runway videos available to view,
including Balenciaga’s shows from the years
2000 through 2010 and Mugler’s shows from
18 JAVA
MAGAZINE