The Role of Fashion Exhibitions in Social Processes : A Modified Cultural Diamond Approach to Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination

This study explores the role of fashion exhibitions through the lens of a modified cultural diamond model, focusing on the 2018 &quotHeavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination&quot exhibition at The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. In this paper, the modified cultural diamond model was used to incorporate the fashion system, which consists of fashion objects, society, fashion producers, and fashion consumers, into the role of fashion exhibitions as distributors. The analysis reveals that fashion exhibitions not only elevate fashion brands to the status of art but also play a pivotal role in the distribution and cultural reception of fashion. These exhibitions influence consumer perceptions by conferring prestige upon selected brands and shaping hierarchical distinctions within the fashion industry. Furthermore, fashion exhibitions act as a medium for popularizing fashion, expanding its audience, and facilitating the conversion of fashion into cultural and symbolic capital. Using the modified cultural diamond model, this analysis will show the immediate and long-term impact the “Heavenly Bodies” fashion exhibition had on key elements of the fashion system and its influence on the fashion producers and consumers.