Dress the history of fashion is a production of iHeart Radio.

There were seven billion people in the world. We all have one thing in common.

Every day we all get dressed.

Welcome to Dress the history of fashion, a podcast that explores the who went when of why we wear we are fashion historians and your hosts April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary.

Dress listeners may second marks the return of the Met Gala to its regularly scheduled programming that is the first Monday in May after two years.

So so excited of course this is the Oscars for fashion and fashion history right April.

Absolutely waiting with baited breath.

Yes exactly so excited and this particular Met Gala is unprecedented actually in that it's the second Gala held in accordance with just one exhibition in America and anthology a fashion was divided into two parts and the first launch last fall and the second will be launching next week.

Yes and our listeners may well remember that we had a thing or two to say about the fashions on view at last years of it largely and mainly our disappointment that European high fashion brands sponsorship really kind of prevailed on the runway.

Overmeaningful engagement with the exhibitions and Gala's theme which is of course celebrating American design.

You know it was such a wonderful opportunity to showcase the incredible range and talent of contemporary American fashion designers but so many attendees just kind of miss the mark by wearing European designers.

Yes they did and if you're interested in our thoughts you can definitely head back and check out our FHN on that very topic.

But of course someone who did not miss the mark was the attendee Jordan Ross and the Broadway and presario has quickly become April one of my all time favorite red carpet attendees I think you agree with me.

Yes for sure my favorite fashion guest at last year's festivities and the one before that for that matter last year I just remember feeling so disappointed in all the European fashion on the red carpet.

It was like one after another and then on walks Jordan Ross and I audibly gased he was wearing this regal grounds we've been collage coat not a single piece of the surface was left unadorned it was this kaleidoscope of color and vibrancy that's left off the screen.

The coat was a collaboration between New Jordan and fiber artist and queer activist Michael Sylvan Robinson and the more we learned about their collaboration and learned about Sylvan's work the more we knew we had to get Sylvan on the show because it's just one of the most high profile examples of their incredible artistic aura which spans decades and explores the intersections of textiles and dress with a broad range of themes from identity gender and sexuality to violence protest and healing.

So we are so pleased to finally welcome Sylvan to the show.

Sylvan welcome to dress I'm so excited to be here thank you so much for inviting me.

Yes I am so excited to talk to you today our listeners will remember that we spoke about you on our met gala episode highly highly praised your work and your collaboration with Jordan Ross and we will talk about that little bit later on in the episode but first I want to learn about you and your artwork.

And your approach to art starting with the question do you have an earliest memory of clothing or textiles one that maybe stuck with you or maybe informed your connection to textiles as a form of human expression.

Well as a little person my family lived in Europe for a short period of time and when I came back to the states in the late 70s I definitely had a very different way of dressing than what the suburban neighborhood that my family moved back into was willing to accept so I think my initial understanding around clothing was that I wanted to wear things that often.

Other people were going to have a negative reaction to and that I think over the course of time I've really come back also I want to say that generation we've had an improved understanding right that clothing and what we wear and the ideas of the questions of gender are all much different than they were when I was a child and I think of myself as a person who's really.

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