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Issey Miyake and Dai Fujiwara, for A-POC, queen, spring/summer 1999

Hussein Chalayan, "Medea" collection, spring/summer 2002

Jean Paul Gaultier, dress, spring/summer 2003

Thierry Mugler, "Anatomic Computer," two-piece suit, fall/winter 1990-1991 (Kelly Wilkinson / The Star)

Yohji Yamamoto, three-piece ensemble, spring / summer 1999 (Kelly Wilkinson / The Star)

Click here to see a video tour of the "Breaking the Mode" exhibit including an interview with IMA curator of textile and fashion arts Niloo Paydar

"Breaking the Mode" highlights

"Breaking the Mode," which opens Sunday at the IMA, features the work of more than 40 international fashion designers who ripped through preconceived notions about art, fashion and the body.

Here's a taste of the stitched, hemmed and zippered masterpieces of "Breaking the Mode." IMA Curator of Textile and Fashion Arts Niloo Paydar and Los Angeles County Museum of Art curators Kaye Durland Spilker and Sharon Sadako Takeda, comment on the mode-breaking elements of the pieces.

Issey Miyake and Dai Fujiwara
for A-POC, queen, spring/summer 1999

Paydar: "The wearer has a lot of choices."

Takeda: "I think the brilliant thing there is Miyake, who has also worked with the concept from the '70s, was really looking for a new concept -- something that was affordable to people. You have designed a whole ensemble within that piece of cloth, where it won't fray and it won't unravel."

Hussein Chalayan
"Medea" collection, spring/summer 2002

Paydar: "It has many ways to wear it. You make the decision; the dress doesn't make the decision."

Spilker: "Chalayan is one of these very cerebral designers. He has a lot of ideas about repression and female repression. It's just a little capsule of some of his ideas and his theories. (This dress represents) the interaction between the designer and the wearer."

Jean Paul Gaultier
dress, spring/summer 2003

Paydar: "This dress changes with every step. It becomes a kinetic sculpture."

Spilker: "It's really a brilliant concept -- the idea of the interactive garment. A designer says, 'OK, this can be worn five ways -- you pick the way.'."

Takeda: "It's this little dress, but it's so cool. It's the total antithesis of the Christian Dior where every pleat is planned into place."

Thierry Mugler
"Anatomic Computer," two-piece suit, fall/winter 1990-1991

Paydar: "I like the image of the body -- I see almost these traces of the illusion of the hourglass figure."

Takeda: "It sort of references the computer mapping of the body. It's not simply printed; it's still incredibly handmade and fitted. Each one of those green lines is hand-whip stitched."

Spilker: "It's a very interesting combination of green plastic cording with velvet; it's an example of mixing old materials with new."

Yohji Yamamoto
three-piece ensemble, spring / summer 1999

Paydar: "You're dealing with androgyny; it's questioning the roles of male and female."

Takeda: "The whole idea that the seams were all perfect, yet this has raw seams that run down."

"Breaking the Mode"

What: Groundbreaking contemporary fashion from more than 40 international designers, including Jean-Paul Gaultier and Yohji Yamamoto, alongside historical examples from the likes of Christian Dior and Charles James.

Where: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road. The exhibit is in the Clowes Gallery in the Wood Pavilion.

When: Sunday, March 16th through June 1. Museum hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues., Wed., Sat.; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thurs. and Fri. and noon-5 p.m. Sun. Closed Mondays.

Cost: $10.

Info: (317) 923-1331, www.imamuseum.org.