S WE ENTER the new Dark Ages ('Black is the new black for fall 2005—and spring 2006!'), it's never a better time to fully explore our relationship with colour in fashion and how it has evolved over hundreds of years. Starting December 9, 2005 through March 26, 2006, the Smithsonian's Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum (2 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128, www.cooperhewitt.org), will present Fashion in Colors, an exhibition that will explore the use of colour as a design element through 300 years of western fashion, as well as examining its ever-changing perceptions through various ages and cultures.

Initially organized by the Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI) Japan, the exhibition draws from the Institute's collection of nearly 11,000 western-style dresses and other garments to highlight more than 60 historical and contemporary designs dating from the 18th century to the present, and will be on view on the first and second floors of the Cooper–Hewitt with costumed mannequins installed according to six separate colour-saturated schemes—black, multicolour, blue, red, yellow and white—to emphasize and highlight the cultural, spiritual and social associations linked with each colour.

‘Fashion in Colors,’ said Cooper–Hewitt director, Paul Warwick Thompson, ‘presents a distinctive interpretation of colour in design and its impact on culture, trade and taste. We're delighted that Fashion in Colors will make its international début at Cooper–Hewitt, particularly as this is the largest fashion-oriented design exhibition held at the museum.’

Exhibition highlights include modern and contemporary masterpieces by Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel, Christian Dior, Viktor & Rolf, Elsa Schiaparelli, Vivienne Westwood, Dolce and Gabbana, Junya Watanabe, Emilio Pucci, Cristobal Balanciaga, Rei Kawakubo/Commes des Garçons, along with historical costumes, including late-18th-century gowns and late-19th-century bustle-style dresses.

Fashion in Colors examines the ever-shifting relationship between different hues, feelings and functions and ‘is a dramatic and thought-provoking examination of fashion and form through the language of colour,’ said Cooper–Hewitt's Curatorial Director Barbara Bloemink. ‘The exhibition mirrors the museum's mission of viewing the history of design through 21st-century eyes.’

The exhibition's Black section delves into our notions of black as a symbol of modernity and elegance, as well as its reputation as the sombre colour of mourning in the west. Coco Chanel's "little black dress" of the 1920s still serves as the epitome of simple elegance even today; while Viktor & Rolf's elaborate multi-collared jacket and pant set from 2003 aptly demonstrate how much creativity one can be squeezed out of what is still significantly known as funeral garb—even if it is a sea of black on the steps of the Bryant Park Tents for the Olympus New York Fashion Week shows and there's not a hearse or weeping widow in sight.

Patchwork and multicolour designs have never been more in style, as seen on the runways for the spring 2006 shows (witness Chado Ralph Rucci's black maze velvet coat and boots from his fall 2005 haute couture collection and Strenesse's double-layered taffeta flower print dress with pleated chiffon hemline from Gabriele Strehle). The Multicolour section will feature fantastical designs (both casual and formal) that undeniably blurred the line between art and clothing from some of the biggest names in design of the late 20th century: Vivienne Westwood (a multilayered tutu skirt from 1993), Dolce and Gabbana (2004's polychrome cartoon-motif printed silk shirt; cotton–linen blend miniskirt with floral print and Technicolor hosiery) and Viktor & Rolf's cotton–satin Harlequin jacket and pants (1998) from the Collection of the Gröninger Museum.

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LEFT COLUMN: Viktor & Rolf jacket and pants, 2003. INSET: Morgane & Fay spring 2006. LEFT: Dolce & Gabbana shirt, skirt and hose. ABOVE, FROM TOP: Chanel day dress, c. 1927. Viktor & Rolf Harlequin jacket and pants, 1998. Chado Ralph Rucci couture, fall 2005. Strenesse by Gabriele Strehle, spring 2006. Vivienne Westwood jacket and skirt, 1993. BELOW: Multicolour room, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, 2005.