Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion

Colorwear: A Kaleidoscope of Fashion is on view at the Phoenix Art Museum from April 15, 2026, through August 15, 2027, in the Kelly Ellman Fashion Galleries. It's a long run, so you've got plenty of time to fit it in.

The exhibition marks the 60th anniversary of the museum's fashion collection, which started in 1966 with the founding of the Arizona Costume Institute. Since then, it's grown to more than 9,000 objects spanning the 18th century to the present, and it includes four special archives: Paper Dress, the Geoffrey Beene Archive, the Emphatics Archive, and the Ann Bonfoey Taylor Archive. This particular show is built around color, and it pulls from that deep well of holdings.

You'll see ensembles and whimsical accessories from North American and European designers like Hubert de Givenchy, Olivier Lapidus, Tina Leser, and Giorgio di Sant'Angelo. Alongside the larger looks are smaller pieces from the museum's collection: Judith Leiber pillboxes encased in multihued crystals, psychedelic scarves, and shoes. The display changes over time with rotating ensembles, and there's a new commission as part of the show. Public programs and lectures will run alongside it, and a catalogue is coming from Scala Arts Publishers with contributions from fashion historians and April Calahan and Cassidy Zachary, the hosts of the Dressed: The History of Fashion podcast.

Admission is free for museum members and children aged 5 and younger, and included in general admission for everyone else. If you're looking for a deal, there's reduced admission during voluntary-donation Wednesdays from 3 to 8 PM. The exhibition runs through August 15, 2027, in the Kelly Ellman Fashion Galleries at the Phoenix Art Museum.