Izzy Camilleri’s designs showcased in ROM display from June 21, 2014 to January 25, 2015
Exhibition in keeping with the Museum’s award-winning accessibility initiatives
(Toronto, Ontario – June 16, 2015) - Fashion Follows Form: Designs for Sitting, an original exhibition of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), has been honoured with the Richard Martin Exhibition Award from the Costume Society of America (CSA).
The ROM exhibition, highlighting renowned Canadian designer Izzy Camilleri’s fashionable, functional—and affordable—designs for women and men who use wheelchairs, was awarded by a seven-person jury in a highly unusual, unanimous decision. In announcing the award, the jury stated that the exhibition featured “…beautifully written text that was respectful of the audience, like the designer is respectful of her clients…” Another juror added, “Overall it checks off so many boxes of what a museum exhibition should be about: broadening people’s perspective, about inclusion, and it shows why creating identity through clothing is so important in people’s lives.”
In learning of the award, Izzy Camilleri stated, “Congratulations to the ROM on winning this award for Fashion Follows Form: Designs for Sitting. I was honoured that Alexandra Palmer recognized the significance of my IZ Adaptive line and felt it worthy of being showcased in an exhibition of this kind. The team that created Fashion Follows Form was dedicated to highlighting my current and past work, in the best light possible. The result was a beautiful, intelligent, and well thought out exhibit which deeply humbled me.”
On display from June 21, 2014 until January 25, 2015 in the ROM’s Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles & Costume, Fashion Follows Form was curated by the Museum’s Nora E. Vaughan Fashion Costume Senior Curator, Dr. Alexandra Palmer following a chance discovery of Camilleri’s storefront. The exhibition’s Honorary Chairs were international fashion media icon Jeanne Beker and the late Barbara Turnbull, a long-time Toronto Star journalist, accessibility advocate, and Izzy Camilleri’s first seated client. Ms. Turnbull became quadriplegic in her teens after being shot during a robbery while working as a convenience store cashier. She had asked the designer to make her a shearling cape and the challenges encountered while creating the garment motivated Camilleri to launch IZ Adaptive in 2009.
The ROM’s award-winning Accessibility Strategy continues to be widely recognized for its leadership role in removing barriers to participation for visitors with disabilities.
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Exhibition Patron Media Partner
ELIZABETH TORY 
EXHIBITION HONORARY CHAIRS
Jeanne Beker Barbara Turnbull
Centennial Government Partners
About the ROM
Opened in 1914, Canada’s largest museum of natural history and world cultures has six million objects in its collections and galleries showcasing art, archaeology and natural science. The ROM is the largest field research institution in the country, and a world leader in research areas from biodiversity, palaeontology, and earth sciences to archaeology, ethnology and visual culture - originating new information towards a global understanding of historical and modern change in culture and environment. For 24-hour information in English and French, please call 416.586.8000 or visit the ROM’s web site at www.rom.on.ca. Tickets are available online at www.rom.on.ca. For specific questions or concerns pertaining to the ROM’s Accessibility, call 416.586.8000 prior to visiting. For those who are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, Bell Relay Service can be reached by dialing 711 or 1.800.855.0511.
ROM Textiles & Fashions
ROM Centres of Discovery are a way to experience the Museum’s encyclopaedic collections. The eight Centres offer visitors opportunities to explore the ROM’s collections of nature and culture; belong to a community that matters to them; and the chance to participate in leaning and discovery — both online and at the Museum. Newly launched, ROM Textiles & Fashions explores global textiles and fashions that interweave cultures and societies. Offering training and educational opportunities, this Centre is also a hub for new ideas, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and publications. Visitors are invited to discover the rich heritage of the Museum’s incredible collection of 50,000 textiles and costume from around the globe.
Media contact
Marilynne Friedman, Senior Publicist, marilynf@rom.on.ca or 416.586.5826
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