From its humble roots as a hardy choice for Galway fishermen, the Aran jumper has rose to be named one of the world’s most iconic fashion garments.
The sheep’s wool jumper, which takes its name from the Aran Islands, where wrapping up warm is essential, will be displayed at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York as part the Items: Is Fashion Modern? exhibition.
Paola Antonelli, a senior curator at MoMA, said that the exhibition would highlight “a powerful form of creative and personal expression”.
The Aran jumper will take its place alongside garments such as a 1950s biker jacket, a Wonderbra, Jane Birkin’s Hermès bag and Levi’s 501 jeans.
One of the jumpers will be transported to MoMA from the national folklife collection at Turlough Park in Co Mayo.
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Clodagh Doyle, curator at the National Museum of Ireland, said that its inclusion was indicative of Irish knitwear’s place in the world of fashion.
“It is magnificent that a piece of our folk heritage will represent our country and one of our traditional crafts in this exhibition of ground-breaking fashion essentials,” she said.
The jumper that has been chosen for display is one from 1942 made from heavy scoured wool and featuring patterns on the front and back. The centre panel on the garment has a diamond stitch, surrounded by a pattern with bobbles.
“This Aran jumper came into the National Museum of Ireland in 1942 from the Irish Homespun Society, which was founded by Muriel Gahan. Irish knitwear design has come a long way since she set up the Country Shop in 1930 to sell home crafts in a flagship Dublin store,” Ms Doyle said.
The MoMA said that each of the 111 items that would be shown in the exhibition were selected because they had a “profound impact on the world over the last century”.
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Other garments that will feature include a vintage pair of Y-fronts by Calvin Klein, three pairs of 1980s Nike Air Force 1 trainers, a Burberry Westminster Heritage trenchcoat and a 1960s miniskirt which has been lent by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The inclusion of the Aran jumper comes on the back of recent campaigns by the fashion houses Michael Kors and Mulberry, which featured high-profile pieces clearly influenced by the Irish garment.
The jumpers, which can take two months to knit by hand, became particularly popular from the 1950s when they began to be exported in their thousands to the United States, Europe and Japan. The jumper entered the style ranks after a knitting pattern for one featured in Vogue in 1956. It was later sported by actors such as Grace Kelly and Steve McQueen, who both wore one while yachting, making it highly desired among the fashion-conscious set in the United States.
Tony Candon, manager of the National Museum of Ireland’s country life collection, said that the jumper’s popularity was due to Hollywood stars having sporting it, as well as folk musicians such as the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.
“Aran sweaters are a powerful expression of the creativity of the Irish folk craft tradition and we are very happy that this is being recognised through inclusion in this important exhibition,” Mr Candon said.
“Aran sweaters continue to be popular today. They are now also made in materials other than just wool and are also machine-knit as well as hand-knit.”
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Originally knitted for fishermen in the west of Ireland, traditional Aran jumpers are ideal in rainy conditions as they are capable of absorbing 30 per cent of their weight in water.
Each stitch on a jumper carries meaning. The cable stitch is a depiction of the ropes used by fishermen and the diamond stitch reflects the fields of the islands. The Irish moss stitch depicts carrageen moss, a type of seaweed found on the Atlantic coast which was used in the past as a fertiliser.
The exhibition also features work commissioned from designers, artists, scientists and engineers who were inspired by fashion. Laduma Ngxokolo, one of South Africa’s leading knitwear designers, will make an art piece based on the Aran jumper.
Items: Is Fashion Modern? opens on October 1 and continues until January 2018, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York