Warner Brothers Home Video and Consumer Products demonstrated that there’s no place like home last week when it brought an exhibition of shoes and artwork inspired by The Wizard of Oz back to the Los Angeles area as part of a global tour trumpeting the 70th anniversary of the classic film. The event also promoted two Oz-related product launches—the September release of the “ultimate collector’s edition” DVD and designer Tarina Tarantino’s “My Pretty” jewelry collection.
Nine months after the exhibition first appeared at Saks Fifth Avenue Beverly Hills, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising’s downtown campus hosted an exhibition of the Ruby Slipper Collection, which includes 19 interpretations of Dorothy’s iconic footwear by designers such as Christian Louboutin and Oscar de la Renta, and Inspirations of Oz Fine Art, 14 Oz-inspired artworks by Romero Britto, Gris Grimly, and other artists commissioned by Warner Brothers.
The studio invited FIDM students to participate in this leg of the exhibition, which runs through June 21 at the downtown campus. Mentored by FIDM and Project Runway alumnus Nick Verreos, students competed to become the 20th designer with shoes in the show and to create Oz-inspired jewelry and red-carpet dresses, which went on display alongside the ruby crystal-embellished shoes. (Kaddie Lam’s footwear design made the cut.)
The collaboration offered FIDM “the opportunity for our students to share the inspiration of today’s designers from a movie that’s 70 years old,” said Barbara Bundy, the school’s vice president of education. “It’s inspirational and a way for them to understand that certain things live on forever.”
This yellow carpet event (borrowing from the film’s yellow brick road) also included the launch of the cross-country Wizard of Oz Hot Air Balloon Tour, showcasing an Emerald City-inspired green balloon floating 75 feet above an area just inside the entrance.
Guests were greeted by 13 students tricked out as Dorothy in identical blue gingham jumpers, white puff-sleeved blouses, matching lace-trimmed socks, and their own versions of ruby slippers, which included at least one pair of red espadrilles.
Red-striped cloths and blood-colored peonies in black glass vases topped cocktail tables arranged outdoors near the exhibition entrance. While DJ Pesce spun music she produced just for the party, guests migrated among several food stations, including a mashed potato martini bar, a buffet of sliders, and a ruby-slipper-inspired dessert bar complete with red velvet cupcakes.
