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The Harry Ransom Center’s exhibition I Have Seen the Future: Norman Bel Geddes Designs America. Photo by Pete Smith. Images courtesy of Harry Ransom Center.
magine discovering a 1920s piece considered futuristic by societal standards in its heyday, and calling it vintage today. Interesting phenomenon, no? Now, imagine that a theatrical and industrial designer responsible for streamlining technological products, crafting stage sets, urban planning and even foreshadowing the United States’ interstate highway system produced this “vintage” item. Whether devising shop window displays on New York’s Fifth Avenue or concocting novel costume jewelry, Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958) fiddled with fashion-related projects throughout his monumental career. In addition to transporting the United States into the future with dynamic industrial and theatrical designs, he left an impressionable mark on fashion as well. By injecting his inventive spirit into fashion experiments, he revolutionized the artistic realm permanently. Thanks to the Harry Ransom Center’s “I Have Seen the Future: Norman Bel Geddes Designs America” exhibit launched on Sept. 11, 2012, visitors can learn about Geddes’ window displays and jewelry pieces in person. Helen Baer, associate curator of performing arts at the Harry Ransom Center, says the exhibit differs from others by covering Geddes’ entire career rather than solely focusing on his industrial or theater work. In effect, visitors can see how the inventor’s earlier projects impacted his later efforts. Amid 300 items included in the exhibition, from mock theater sets to streamline ocean liner models to video projections, guests can witness some
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of Geddes’ fashion projects as well. “What I like most about Geddes’ fashion work is that he recognized that the attractiveness of the presentation was as important as the quality of the products,” Baer said. “He was a first-rate promoter of his work and his clients’ products. For example, in 1929, he designed shop window displays and mannequins for the Franklin Simon department store on Fifth Avenue in New York.” “His design for mannequin heads is beautifully rendered,” Baer added. “It’s one of my favorite items in the exhibit. Who wouldn’t be drawn to a hat displayed on those mannequins?” Geddes’ 1929 “Travel Smartly in Tweed” window display for Franklin Simon & Co. resonates with the visionary’s artistic splendor. Capitalizing on his theater set composition skills, Geddes enhanced the tweed coat’s inherently smart Roaring ‘20s persona by manipulating light and meticulously arranging props. Rather than creating a simple window display, Geddes transformed the area into a space suitable enough for a theatrical performance - one where fashion stood in the limelight. Cascading suitcases and an umbrella perched against a metallic structure play supporting roles while the coat plays prima donna. Several other photographs of Geddes’ window displays share the same wall as the “Travel Smartly in Tweed” piece. Although smaller in size, the photograph of his 1927 Agnes turban and scarf display for the same retailer proves equally enthralling. In the center of the display, passerby found a metal bust with an Agnes turban atop its head partnered with a vermillion and chartreuse green scarf.