KENT, OHIO – The Kent State University Museum is pleased to announce their latest exhibition: “The Hepburn Style: Katharine and Her Designers.” The exhibition will open Friday, June 28, 2024 and will continue through Sunday, May 25, 2025. The Museum’s collection includes the estate of Katharine Hepburn and her theatrical costumes throughout her career, as well as personal items.
Academy Award-winning actress Katharine Hepburn left the New York stage for Hollywood in 1930. The rise of movies offered audiences an affordable form of escapism from the Great Depression, while costume designers delighted movie-goers by creating glamorous costumes worn by stars like Katharine Hepburn. The costumes were fashionable, contemporary garments that blurred the line between costume and fashion. Women in audiences wanted to emulate the styles they saw.
Often perceived as a conflation of her on-screen costumes and her personal fashion taste, Katharine Hepburn’s style has been described as: “all-time movie chic,” or “easy, un-self-conscious and American.”
“The Hepburn Style” is curated by Joanne Fenn, Kent State University Museum collections manager and professor.
“The exciting aspect of Katharine Hepburn’s style is that it is enduring. Her choices went beyond fashion trends, incorporating her individuality, and pushing gender norms. The exhibition highlights three designers that helped define her lasting style and is drawn entirely from the Kent State University Museum’s collection. Many are being exhibited for the first time,” said Fenn.
As an actress, Hepburn worked with costume designers, always pushing for comfort, movement and proportions that complimented her. Costume designers incorporated these key elements into their designs, which naturally blended Hepburn’s personal style preferences with their costume designs.
The designers that helped Hepburn meet these criteria were Valentina, Adrian and Irene.
The exhibition showcases Katharine Hepburn’s style with examples from her personal wardrobe, costumes, and the contemporary designers she wore. The personal wardrobe ranges from her “uniform” of pants and a simple top, to dresses, and lingerie. Throughout the exhibition, you will see the elements of Katharine Hepburn’s style: comfort, line and proportion represented in her fashion choices and in the costumes she wore.
“This exhibition is a great opportunity for us to display some of the most popular pieces in our collection. We have had tremendous response with past exhibitions of Hepburn’s costumes, and "The Hepburn Style” will allow us to showcase pieces that haven’t been displayed before as well as to contextualize her wardrobe with garments from our collection by designers that Hepburn admired,” said Sara Hume, professor and curator for the Kent State University Museum.
Producers Sponsor: Karen and Ken Conley; Ken Robinson
Friends Sponsor: Pat Brownell in honor of Logan Brownell
A sustainability grant from the Ohio Arts Council
ABOUT THE KENT STATE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM
The Kent State University Museum is located at 515 Hilltop Drive, at the corner of East Main Street and South Lincoln Street in Kent, Ohio. It features more than 29,000 pieces in its collection, amassed from many generous donors. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon - 4 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in person at the museum or in advance through the museum’s online ticketing service.
Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for children ages 5 to 18. The museum is free for children under 5 and for those with a Kent State ID. Sunday admission is free for all ages. Parking is free for all museum attendees. Patrons should use the allotted museum spaces in the Rockwell Hall parking lot. For more information, please call 330-672-3450 or visit www.kent.edu/museum.