November 19, 2020

Made It: The Women Who Revolutionized Fashion Opens at PEM

by joeyphoenix
Featured image for “Made It: The Women Who Revolutionized Fashion Opens at PEM”

From the Peabody Essex Museum

This month, we’re highlighting local businesses as part of our #StayLocal2020 campaign. Scroll to the bottom for more information.

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) debuts its headlining exhibition, Made It: The Women Who Revolutionized Fashion, on Saturday, November 21. Explore 107 works, spanning 250 years, recognizing women’s often-overlooked contributions to the fashion and design industry.

Members of the press are invited to a virtual preview on Thursday, November 19, from 6–7 pm beginning with remarks and featuring a virtual exhibition tour with Petra Slinkard, The Nancy B. Putnam Curator of Fashion and Textiles and Director of Curatorial Affairs. Please register here

From 19th-century White House seamstress Elizabeth Keckley to Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel and contemporary labels like Chromat, women designers continue to radically transform our ideas about identity and presentation. Made It celebrates the stories of women who revolutionized many aspects of the fashion industry and traces how these efforts parallel the history of women’s global struggle for equity and opportunity.

Show-stopping ensembles, street fashion, ready-to-wear and haute couture illuminate issues of representation, creativity and consumption. The exhibition is organized in association with Kunstmuseum Den Haag and will be on view at PEM from November 21, 2020 through March 14, 2021. Timed tickets are required and available here.

Schedule of Events

Made It: The Women Who Revolutionized Fashion
Saturday, November 21 | 10 am–5 pm

Celebrate this groundbreaking new exhibition in person on opening day.

Art Making: Sustainable Statement Pieces 
Saturday, November 21 | 10 am

Join us in celebrating the exhibition with a special art-making activity. Taking inspiration from the women’s suffrage movement, the fight for women’s rights past and present, and the work of fashion designer Carla Fernández, visitors will design their own masks, banners and suffragist sashes. Stop by the museum on opening day to pick up an art-making kit or tune in virtually using materials you have at home. Drop-in virtually here.

Holiday Makers’ Market
Tuesday, December 8 | 10 am

Get a jump start on holiday shopping, and support local women artists, makers and sellers by attending a virtual marketplace inspired by the exhibition. Follow PEM’s #TakeoverTuesday Instagram story to see what local shops and makers have in store for holiday gift giving. Free; Follow @peabodyessex on Instagram to join.


SHOP LOCAL! Support the small businesses that make up your community and are owned by your friends, neighbors, and fellow community members.

If you are a business and are interested in being part of this initiative please visit creativecollectivema.com/join and sign up for our comprehensive business program!

#staylocallynn • #staylocalsalem • #staylocalpeabody • #staylocalbeverly • #staylocalmarblehead

We wanted to shine a spotlight on many of the small businesses that make up the fabric of our communities and support them as much as we can throughout the Winter.

Stay tuned to this event for information on businesses throughout the North shore. We will be highlighting the humans behind the small businesses, showcasing specials and promotions, and also curating experiences that will make your local shopping even better!A priority this year will be to educate consumers on the safety protocols that so many of our fantastic businesses have implemented in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.