Santa Barbara County is blessed with a diversity of vital nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the health, well-being, growth, civic leadership and compassion of our community.
Charitable giving and philanthropy are part of our identity, which is why Noozhawk is proud to support the nonprofit community through sponsoring local community organizations and events.
To showcase our support as a sponsor of Fashion Exhibition: 100th Birthday Tribute to James Galanos, Noozhawk spoke with Cara Austine-Rademaker with Couture Pattern Museum to learn more about their upcoming event.
Question: What is the name and date of your event?
Answer: Fashion Exhibition: 100th Birthday Tribute to James Galanos, Legendary California Designer – May 2, and June 6, 2024 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Q: What is the mission, goal, and/or theme of this occasion?
A: We address the often-overlooked area of fashion and costume art in Santa Barbara County, striving to enrich our community with cultural and historical insights that have been marginalized.
As the world’s sole, remaining custodian of many significant and historical couture patterns from the golden age of couture, our mission extends globally, beyond the borders of Santa Barbara County.
We preserve these designs for future generations of students, researchers, and historians, while helping to stimulate the local economy with our unique collection that attracts visitors from around the world.
By showcasing the exquisite early designs of James Galanos, we celebrate his contributions as a gay, California fashion designer who transcended boundaries of inclusivity and elegance by making his designs widely available through sewing patterns to those who could not afford his otherwise expensive clothes.
This event is an LGBTQIA+ safe event, providing a safe space to celebrate a gay designer and his impact.
The culture of sewing patterns represents a sustainable form of fashion that challenges fast-fashion norms and also serves as an educational platform for the youth and fashion design students.
Our family-friendly events not only nurture potential careers in fashion but also inspire another avenue for expressing one’s artistic vision and skill.
Attending this tribute will inspire and help us celebrate the preservation of a vital part of cultural history, inspiring change in both local and global communities.
The “100th Birthday Tribute to James Galanos” event is part of the Couture Pattern Museum’s mission to make fashion heritage accessible to everyone.
This informed our decision to host this event at Workzones at Paseo Nuevo Mall during 1st Thursday Artwalk, where visitors can benefit from free 75-minute parking at Paseo Nuevo Mall.
Through sponsorships with local organizations, we ensure that everyone can attend the event, regardless of their financial situation, to participate and enjoy the celebration of fashion history.
Visitors will have the opportunity to view identical dresses from the permanent collections of both the MET Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, bringing internationally celebrated dresses right here to Santa Barbara.
Q: Have you held this event before?
A: Yes, we have previously hosted similar events during 1st Thursday Artwalks. This year marks the third installment of our exhibition series.
In 2022, we inaugurated with the “Paris Night Looks,” exhibition, showcasing designs from 1957 by couturiers such as Madame Grès, Marc Bohan for Patou, Joules François Crahay for Nina Ricci, and Jacques Heim.
Following that success, in 2023, we presented the “Coronation Couture” exhibit, featuring the coronation robe and gown crafted from the incredibly rare and historically significant sewing patterns in our collection, blessed by the then young Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
These patterns were provided by the Queen, designer Norman Hartnell (the Queen’s dressmaker) and the Earl Marshal, to enable impoverished peeresses to attend the coronation in their required attire. This exhibition was featured on His Majesty’s official Coronation website, one of the few in America to be recognized.
This year, we’re celebrating the 100th birthday anniversary of James Galanos, known for dressing Hollywood and the political elite, including Marilyn Monroe. Additionally, he created all four gubernatorial and presidential inaugural gowns for Nancy Reagan.
Q: Tell us some more details about your celebration?
A: For our “100th Birthday Tribute to James Galanos,” we have a big surprise. We will be exhibiting the fusion of traditional haute couture craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology by Luxembourg artist Povilas Zaleskis.
This technology recreates a 3-dimensional timelapse of a digital recreation using James Galanos’ patterns from 1957 from our collection. Clo3D technology is taught at prestigious fashion institutions like FIT and Parsons, and we are very excited that Povilas is collaborating with us.
Alongside the museum-owned dresses on display, we will be showcasing an additional four dresses authentically reconstructed from original Galanos patterns in our Santa Barbara atelier—one of which utilized over 30 yards of fabric for the skirt alone.
The exhibition will also include a rich collection of original department store pamphlets and a counterbook from 1957, pattern books, and original press photos. Of course we will also feature the four original sewing patterns he released through McCall’s.
This is the first time all four patterns, exclusively held by the museum, have been brought to life for public viewing in history. In fact, it’s likely that no other institution on earth possesses all four Galanos for McCall’s patterns, given their exceptional rarity and significance.
Viewing them together, especially reconstructed in all their glory, is a historic event in itself. Galanos had an illustrious career spanning over 50 years, so condensing Galanos’ story into a single exhibition was a challenge.
However, we’ve chosen to focus on his early career and his contributions to sewing and fashion design. Despite the high cost of his garments, Galanos was committed to making his designs accessible through sewing patterns, embodying the spirit of democratization in fashion.
He did not come from privilege and worked his way up through the ranks of high fashion using his artistic skill alone. This aspect of his legacy is the exhibition’s focus. It’s also more interesting, because we tell the story from the point of view of technical mastery and aesthetic brilliance.
He didn’t license his name to anyone or anything except for perfume, fur, and sewing patterns. Democratizing his designs through the sewing pattern proves his dedication to inclusivity and education in fashion.
Q: How do people get involved with your event? (volunteer, attend, etc.) – If your event includes ticket sales, please note the price and include a link to purchase tickets.
A: People can engage with our “100th Birthday Tribute to James Galanos” event in several meaningful ways:
Attend: Admission to the event is free! It is scheduled for two dates, May 2 and June 6, 2024, at The Tower Event Space, Workzones, Paseo Nuevo Mall, offering free 75-minute parking to make it accessible to everyone. Walk-ins are welcome and expected, ensuring that everyone, including those requiring ADA accessibility, can enjoy this historic exhibition.
Volunteer: We warmly welcome individuals who wish to volunteer their time and skills to help make this event a success. Volunteers can assist in various capacities, including event setup the day before, which requires moderate physical labor, guiding visitors, or spreading the word about the exhibit. It’s a great opportunity to contribute to the fashion and costume community.
Donate Online or Become a Member: While admission is free, we encourage donations or membership sign-ups to support our mission of preserving fashion history and making our exhibits accessible to all.
Due to the significant costs associated with mounting our exhibitions and the need to prioritize our digitization efforts, any contribution at any level is welcomed. Contributions are also needed for our extensive digitization project and to expand our local educational programs.
Our dream, with the right sponsorships and donations, is to open our database for free for wider access and to partner with the local institution to give locals access to the database.
Currently, visits to our museum location at 1525 State Street require a digitization sponsorship of $125 per visit to cover staff and building costs. As a start-up museum, we face significant challenges, and any amount helps.
Check out membership opportunities on our website at www.couturepatternmuseum.com, or donate through our fiscal sponsor, Creative Visions, at https://creative-visions.networkforgood.com/projects/199835-couture-pattern-museum-s-fundraiser.
Share Your Experience on Google, Yelp, or Instagram: Help spread the word about the event and its mission by sharing your experience!
Posting photos, impressions, and thoughts about the exhibition can raise awareness and foster a wider appreciation for our work and the museum’s efforts.
For more information on volunteering, attending, and supporting our event, please visit our website and contact us directly. This event is an invitation for the community to come together, learn, and share in the beauty of our fashion and sewing heritage.
Q: Is this a fundraising affair? If so, how will the funds raised help your organization?
A: The “100th Birthday Tribute to James Galanos” event is not structured as a fundraising affair. It’s an occasion for celebration and education, dedicated to showcasing James Galanos’s remarkable contributions to fashion.
The focus will be on enriching attendees’ understanding and appreciation of fashion history through the lens of the couture pattern and fashion design. It is an immersive experience that highlights the museum’s mission and collections.
For individuals motivated to support our endeavors, including exhibitions, educational programs, and digitization projects, we invite them to visit our website. Here, opportunities for donations or membership sign-ups are available, enabling us to sustain and expand our valuable work in sharing unique fashion history with the public.
Q: Who is sponsoring your event, and why is their support important?
A: Our “100th Birthday Tribute to James Galanos” event is made possible through the generous support of sponsors, each contributing uniquely to the richness of this celebration.
Workzones is kindly providing the gorgeous and open Tower event space at Paseo Nuevo Mall, offering us an expansive and elegant venue for displaying our exhibits.
Paseo Nuevo Mall is sponsoring our event with logistical support, such as signage and marketing, ensuring the tribute is widely promoted and accessible to a broad audience.
SBIndependent and Noozhawk are our advertising and events sponsors, helping to publicize the event within the community. Their platforms allow us to reach our audience, generating excitement and anticipation.
Sol Wave Water is ensuring the well-being of our attendees by sponsoring clean, filtered water, contributing to a comfortable and enjoyable environment for everyone at the event.
Povilas Zaleskis from BiasCutWoman is sponsoring the groundbreaking Clo3D exhibit. Povilas’s involvement brings a cutting-edge dimension to our event, showcasing the innovative Clo3D technology that is revolutionizing fashion design and education.
This exhibit aligns perfectly with our educational mission, providing a unique learning opportunity for aspiring designers and attendees interested in the intersection of fashion and technology.
The collective community support of our sponsors is fundamental to the success of our tribute to James Galanos. It reflects a community that is dedicated to preserving and celebrating fashion history, facilitating cultural education, and fostering community engagement around the transformative power of design.
Q: Do you work with an Event Planner? If not, who are the key people who make it all happen?
A: No, as a passionate start-up with more ambition than funding, we do not have the luxury of working with an event planner.
Instead, we take a hands-on approach, with the Founder, Cara Austine, and her assistant, RJ, at the forefront of our operations. They are involved in everything from curating and setting up exhibitions to the enormous work of reconstructing some of the garments themselves.
While we cherish the thought of collaborating with local event planners for future fundraising events and have many beautiful ideas in mind, our current focus is on managing with the resources we have.
We look forward to a time when we can expand our capabilities with the support of our community, enabling us to bring the museum’s visions to life.
Q: Does your organization have any other upcoming events this year?
A: Yes, after our memorable “100th Birthday Tribute to James Galanos” event concludes on June 6, 2024, we’re eager to continue engaging with our community in innovative ways.
Our founder, Cara Austine, is arranging hosting intimate gatherings at our new museum space at 1525 State Street.
While these plans are still in the formative stages, ideas like tea and movie gatherings are on the table, allowing us to celebrate fashion and foster community connections in a cozy, personal setting.
For those who may have missed the free exhibitions at Workzones, there’s a unique opportunity to view the artifacts and garments up close in our new space after June 6.
Visitors can support our digitization project and enjoy a private viewing for a sponsorship visit of $125. Located on State Street overlooking the Arts District, our current space offers charming distant ocean views of the Granada and Arlington, providing an inspiring backdrop for our collections and gatherings.
As we dream of expanding to a larger venue with the support of our community through donations, grants, sponsorships, and memberships, we invite you to stay connected by signing up for our newsletter on our website, https://www.couturepatternmuseum.com or through Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/couture.pattern.museum
You’ll be the first to hear about our plans as they develop and can be part of making our community’s cultural calendar even more vibrant.
Q: What are you planning as a post-event follow up?
A: – Visitors can sign up to become a Founding Member for $299 per year or support the community with database access for $5 per month
– Hands-On Visits: We’re offering unique, hands-on visits to our museum, allowing individuals a closer look at our collections and the beautiful world of couture fashion.
– Haute Couture Sewing Classes: Under the guidance of our founder, participants have the chance to select a historical pattern and learn the art of haute couture sewing, combining historical significance with practical skills.
– Local Collaborations: We’re working alongside local businesses and government organizations to foster community engagement and extend our educational reach.
– Online Classes: To make our resources accessible globally, we are developing online classes that will allow enthusiasts from around the world to delve into the intricacies of fashion design and sewing from the comfort of their homes.
– Sponsorship Opportunities: We’re actively seeking corporate and individual sponsors interested in supporting our mission. Sponsors can choose to fund a specific pattern or visit us in person to see the impact of their contribution firsthand.
– High-End Dressmaking and Design Services: As a means to fund our venture, our founder offers bespoke dressmaking services for special occasions to clients in Montecito, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles. This collaborative process prioritizes personal design preferences and high-quality fabrics, with services starting at $3,000.
– We are in the planning stages of our very first fundraising event. Recognizing the importance of expert advice and guidance in this area, we are reaching out to fundraising experts to help us design an event that not only raises funds but also aligns with our mission and values.
This event represents a significant step forward for our museum, and we are eager to collaborate with professionals who can offer the insight and strategies necessary to make it a success.
– Through these diverse initiatives, we aim to sustain and expand the museum’s offerings and foster a community that values and supports the rich heritage and future potential of fashion design and couture craftsmanship.
To attend or learn more about the “100th Birthday Tribute to James Galanos” click HERE.
If you would like to apply for Noozhawk’s 50/50 Match Sponsorship Program for your upcoming nonprofit event please click HERE to view our sponsorship application. The deadline for consideration is 30-45 days prior to the event. You can also contact our sales team at sales@noozhawk.com.