Events

Running from 8 November 2024 to 25 January 2025 is Style and Spirit: The Fashion of Chester Weinberg, presented by SAMESH in partnership with The David Roche Foundation.

Chester Weinberg was the first fashion designer to die of AIDS related illness in 1985. Despite his importance and the prominence of his work, HIV stigma saw Chester literally written out of history books. SAMESH is resurrecting his story.

Chester was one of the most important of the new wave of American couture designers in the 1960s to achieve international fame. He encapsulated the mod sophistication of the cocktail hour, designing for New York socialites and LA film stars like Judy Peabody and Barbra Streisand.

In the 1970s he embraced the languid glamour of the disco set, establishing a reputation as the “anti-Halston”. Finally, in the 1980s he helped redevelop denim into high fashion as the design director for Calvin Klein Jeans. As a mentor and teacher he nurtured the careers of such fashion luminaries as Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Isaac Mizrahi, Jeffrey Banks and Marc Jacobs.

Style and Spirit explores the life and design ethos of an important but forgotten style icon while highlighting how HIV stigma contributed to his erasure. The exhibition presents over 60 works from the height of Chester’s design career as well as works by his Parisian contemporaries and influences including Christian Dior and Balenciaga.

Style & Spirit: The Fashion of Chester Weinberg will show at The David Roche Foundation House Museum at 214 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide, SA, 5006 from 8 November 2024 to 25 January 2025 with a suite of public programming events including guided tours, talks and forums.

As additional details are yet to be revealed, the Book Now button below is nonfunctional.