March 9, 2005

Fashion becomes Art becomes Performance becomes Life with House of Diehl at MASS MoCA

(North Adams, Mass.)-- Equal parts interactive performance, fashion show, and style lab, designers from the House of Diehl present a live performance called Instant Couture where they'll slash, shred, tie, and knot second-hand clothes right onto their models at MASS MoCA Saturday, April 9, at 8 P.M. Part of the Alternative Cabaret series, the event will be held in Club B-10 which will be transformed into a fashion runway complete with paparazzi. House of Diehl's designs were most recently seen in Gwen Stefani's Rich Girl video. "Fashion as the new rock and roll," their website proclaims beside scrolling graphics of models wearing edgy outfits one would expect to see on the red carpet at the Grammys.

"Imagine there were no live concerts," the site goes on to say, "just studio LPs--then, out of nowhere, Jimi Hendrix rocked the world with a live guitar. Most fashion is sterile and over-produced. House of Diehl is Haute Couture's Hendrix--emotional, sexy, raw, alive." For House of Diehl's Instant Couture designers dance, models mingle, and guests take the catwalk to get glamourized on the spot. At MASS MoCA some of the "models" will be plucked from the audience and local artists will work with House of Diehl to create fashion on these audience member models.

House of Diehl is part of the exhibition entitled Trade Show which opened in MASS MoCA's Prints & Drawings Gallery on January 31. The Trade Show gallery will be open from 6 - 7:30 PM before the fashion show on April 9. Admission to Trade Show is included in the ticket price for the event. Trade Show is presented in collaboration with the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute in support of the Williams/Clark Graduate Program in the History of Art.

House of Diehl's MJ Diehl and Roman Milisic have been called "Nothing short of Revolutionary!" (ABC Eyewitness News); and, "The Aesthetic Gurus of the new Millennium," (H magazine). Black Book magazine counted House of Diehl among "the most important artists in popular culture." Mary Jo Diehl was named the winner of the Triumph International Fashion Award 2004/5--the only American designer nominated for this International competition, which is voted for by experts and the public: making it a truly democratic choice. House of Diehl has also been nominated for the Gen Art Styles, and Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Awards. Roman Milisic was the editor of David LaChapelle's book, Hotel LaChapelle. They live and work in NYC.

Founded in late 2001 in New York City, House of Diehl is the fashion-art partnership of MJ Diehl and Roman Milisic. Visually, viscerally, and socially stimulating, House of Diehl produces award-winning Fashion Collections, Interactive Art, Cultural Philosophy, and once-in-a-lifetime Social Moments that are fun, glamorous, personal, and meaningful.

Their work is currently represented in the Trade Show exhibition at MASS MoCA and has been seen in such diverse venues as MTV and The New York Times "Styles" section.. The duo have shown their work at Deitch Projects, Gale Gates Gallery, and Priska C. Juschka Gallery, in New York, as well as the Hollywood Standard in Los Angeles. They have delivered their Instant Couture™ event to thousands of people worldwide, in events at Bryant Park during New York Fashion Week; at the Puck Ballroom in New York; at the Downtown Standard Hotel in Los Angeles; at 93 Feet East in London, and in other venues around the world.

House of Diehl will also offer Instant Couture for kids at 11 AM on Saturday, April 9 in MASS MoCA's rehearsal hall. Tickets for the kids event are free with museum admission but should be reserved in advance.

Tickets for House of Diehl are $13 in advance or $16 the day of the show. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. (closed Tuesdays). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located off Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org