Current Exhibitions

Suzie Zuzek for Lilly Pulitzer: The Prints That Made the Fashion Brand
on View through January 2, 2022

Photo: Matt Flynn © The Original I.P. LLC.

Between 1962 and 1985, prolific textile designer Suzie Zuzek (1920-2011) created over 1,500 designs for Key West Hand Print Fabrics in Key West, Florida, which were used by Lilly Pulitzer. The exhibition will feature more than 35 original watercolor and gouache design drawings by Zuzek, alongside finished screen-printed textiles and some of the fashions that made them famous, to reveal the nature and scope of Zuzek’s artistic contribution to the iconic Pulitzer style. The publication Suzie Zuzek for Lilly Pulitzer: The Artist Behind an Iconic Fashion Brand, 1962-1985 is available at SHOP Cooper Hewitt.

Learn more about Suzie Zuzek for Lilly Pulitzer: The Prints That Made the Fashion Brand. 

The Modernist French Garden: Designs by the Vera Brothers
On View through January 2 2022

In the early 20th century, French brothers André and Paul Vera sought to develop a new style of gardens, one that paired a modern geometric order with elements of prized 17th century landscape traditions. This exhibition will unite over 20 of the brothers’ striking Art Deco drawings for gardens with their 1912 published treatise Le nouveau jardin (The New Garden).

Learn more about The Modernist French Garden: Designs by the Vera Brothers.

Contemporary Muslim Fashions
On View Through July 11, 2021

Organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, this pioneering exhibition examines how Muslim women—those who cover and those who do not—have become arbiters of style within and beyond their communities. Contemporary Muslim Fashions features approximately 80 ensembles drawn from established and emerging designers in high-end fashion, streetwear, sportswear and couture, as well as about 40 photographs to contextualize the garments on view.

Learn more about Contemporary Muslim Fashions.

Nature by Design: Selections from the Permanent Collection
On View through  January 2, 2022                                          

Discover how nature and design have intersected in the past and continue to converge in our world. Learn how designers across the centuries have observed nature, investigated its materials, and imitated and abstracted its patterns and shapes.

Learn more about Nature by Design: Selections From The Permanent Collection.

Immersion Room

To ensure the health and safety of visitors and staff, interactive technologies—including the Pen and touch screens—are temporarily unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Learn more about the Immersion Room.

Willi Smith: Street Couture
On View Through Oct. 24, 2021

Willi Smith, ca. 1981, Courtesy of Kim Steele

In the first museum exhibition dedicated to American designer Willi Smith (1948–1987), co-founder of the iconic brand WilliWear, over 200 works by Smith and collaborators will illuminate how the streetwear pioneer broke down social, cultural, and economic boundaries.

Learn more about Willi Smith: Street Couture.

Exhibition supporters

Willi Smith: Street Couture is made possible by principal support from Target.

Major support is provided by Gucci.

Additional support is provided by the Ehrenkranz Fund and Edward and Helen Hintz.

Funding is also provided by The Coby Foundation, Ltd., the Esme Usdan Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Keith Haring Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the Cooper Hewitt Master’s Program Fund.

In-kind support is provided by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Cargo, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Nature by Design is made possible by major support from Amita and Purnendu Chatterjee. Additional support is provided by the Cooper Hewitt Master’s Program Fund.

Contemporary Muslim Fashions is organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

The Cooper Hewitt presentation of Contemporary Muslim Fashions is made possible by support from the August Heckscher Exhibition Fund.

Additional support is provided by the Barbara and Morton Mandel Design Gallery Endowment Fund and Edward and Helen Hintz.

Funding is also provided by the Cooper Hewitt Master’s Program Fund.

Digital Experience supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Exhibitions of the permanent collection are made possible by major support from Nancy Marks. Additional support is provided by Elizabeth and Lee Ainslie and the Henry Luce Foundation.

The Immersion Room is made possible by major support from Amita and Purnendu Chatterjee.