New SCAD-Atlanta museum dedicated to fashion to open in October

Following on the heels of the 2011 opening of the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art in Savannah, the Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta is debuting a 10,000-square-foot SCAD FASH museum dedicated to fashion.

The museum will be located in the SCAD Atlanta main facility at 1600 Peachtree St. Slated for an Oct. 3 opening, SCAD FASH will feature lectures, films and international exhibitions.

The inaugural exhibition "Oscar de la Renta," opening Oct. 3, will highlight designs from the renowned fashion icon. The exhibition will showcase de la Renta's designs from the mid-1960s to the present and feature gowns worn by Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey and Laura Bush and also feature the designs of current Oscar de la Renta creative director Peter Copping.

Future SCAD FASH exhibitions will include one devoted to actor and musician André 3000, "I Feel Ya: SCAD + André 3000 Benjamin," and "Art x Fashion," which looks at the intersection of fashion and design.

The museum, which will be one of the largest fashion museums in the country when it opens, will also highlight works from SCAD’s permanent fashion collection of more than 1,000 garments, which features clothing by leading fashion designers including de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent and Givenchy.

The museum’s programming is overseen by Laurie Ann Farrell, executive director of museums and exhibitions at SCAD.

The museum opening comes at a propitious time for Atlanta, with the Nov. 7 debut of the first-ever fashion exhibition at the High Museum, "Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion," dedicated to the avant-garde Dutch designer to Lady Gaga and Bjork.