“I don’t do event dressing, because every day is an event."  This is the philosophy of Daphne Guinness, heiress, socialite, and patroness of the haute couture, whose clothes are on display now at the gallery at FIT.  It’s a brilliantly-curated collection of theatrical, avant-garde clothing, with large doses of Azzedine Alaia, Karl Lagerfeld, Gareth Pugh, and Chanel.  But the heart of the exhibit (and Guinness’ closets) is given over to Alexander McQueen.  Guinness was frequently described as McQueen’s muse.  She owned many of the pieces on display at the Met’s summer show, dressed for the opening gala of that exhibit in the shop windows at Barney’s, and, at the designer’s funeral, entered St. Paul’s in an enormous, black, McQueen-designed cape that trailed her like a storm cloud.  The day called for drama, and she delivered.

Alexander McQueen presides over the Guinness exhibit in another sense too.  His spectacular Met retrospective raised the bar for fashion exhibits and for museum display design.  Other shows I’ve seen at FIT’s main gallery, a flat basement space, felt less like special events than like archival study, with groups of plain white mannequins set out on flat stands with explanatory labels.  For the Guinness exhibit FIT constructed six small alcoves from mirror, glass, and fabric scrims.  And they’ve hung screens above showing the short films that Guinness starred in and produced.  The result is a sense of multiplicity and transparency that’s right in sync with the image of the lady in question, and of anyone, really, who participates fully in fashion.