"Folk Couture: Fashion and Folk Art"

The latest in a growing crop of city museums to exhibit fashion garments as art, the American Folk Art Museum showcases the work of 13 contemporary designers. Not sure what this has to do with folk art? Here's the catch: In a Project Runway–style prompt, each designer or design team was asked to use one or more pieces in the museum's gallery as inspiration for their garment. Tattoo patterns, quilts, wood carvings and even a weather vane are among the artifacts used by the artists.