What we wear tells a lot about our social identity, our customs, our habits and where we come from. It's appropriate to say that we don’t just wear clothes – we wear our culture!
Highlighting this very aspect, we at Google Arts & Culture have launched an exciting new project “We wear culture” that showcases 3000 years of fashion from across 42 countries in partnership with 183 world famous museums, fashion councils and universities. Using state of the art technology, including Virtual Reality, 360º videos and Gigapixel images, the platform enables unique online access to historic and contemporary stories that decode the various aspects of fashion for everyone. The stories, photos, videos and VR experiences will appeal to all those who are curious about its various intersections with music, pop culture, dance, technology, economics and so much more.
Vivienne Westwood Corset courtesy Victoria & Albert Museum; Ruby Slipper of Marilyn Monroe courtesy Museo Salvatore Ferragamo
The Richness and diversity of Indian Fashion has always been marked by its distinctive and varied craftsmanship, it’s fabrics, the weaves, the natural dyes and vibrant colours as well as the classic Indian drape - the iconic Indian Saree. It would be apt to say that the most versatile garment in the world, the saree, is referenced the world over and worn by millions of women on a daily basis.
Various sari drapes courtesy Border&Fall
Navjote ceremony coat of Cursetjee Vakil courtesy CSMVS; Ethnographic documentation of drape styles courtesy CSMVS; Salar Jung III in a sherwani courtesy Salar Jung Museum
The SEWA Hansiba Museum in Randhapur is completely owned and managed by rural women artisans. The museum contains heirlooms by the local communities, such as the Ahir, Rabari and Harijan. The local skilling has helped bond stronger communities, and top fashion designers are now approaching them for fashion sampling. Flamboyant stitches to regional exchanges, the women are building economic security for themselves.
If it is colour that catches your interest, then explore how Indigo cultivation dates back to the Indus Valley civilisation and how this natural dye has been often credited with opening up an extensive range of beautiful blue shades that redefined global fashion even as the knowledge of extracting blue color from green leaves of indigo was closely guarded within the families. You don’t have to stop at Indigo or India, you can explore the colour palette of global fashion over the years.
With over over 400 online exhibitions and stories sharing a total of 30.000 photos, videos and other documents; 4 virtual reality experiences of iconic fashion pieces; over 700 ultra high-resolution gigapixel images and over 40 venues offer backstage access on Google Street View you could easily get lost in fashion!
We could not have done this it without our partners around the globe. In India we are very proud to partner with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum (BDL), SEWA Hansiba Museum, Salar Jung Museum, Indian Museum Kolkata, Museum of Art & Photography, Craft Revival Trust, Avani Society, Worldview Impact Foundation, Border & Fall to celebrate this rich history of Indian fashion and bring to life the creativity, heritage and craftsmanship -- for anyone around the world to see, learn, experience and cherish. The new online exhibition opens today at g.co/wewearculture online for free and will also be available through the Google Arts & Culture mobile app both on iOS and Android.
Posted by Simon Rein, India Programme Manager, Google Arts & Culture
