Stitched Into History: The Legacy of Detroit’s Avenue of Fashion transforms a historic Parisian setting into a showcase of Detroit’s contemporary fashion. Rooted in the enduring legacy of the city’s storied Avenue of Fashion, this exhibition centers on the work of Detroit-based designers who reinterpret heritage through modern materials and narratives, redefining the fashion landscape. The juxtaposition of Detroit’s innovative fashion and contemporary visual art within the ornate setting of Hôtel de Talleyrand invites viewers to reflect on fashion as a global language, one that connects past with present, and Detroit histories with international audiences.

For generations, Livernois Avenue, affectionately known as the Avenue of Fashion, has stood as a monument to Detroit’s spirit of entrepreneurship, community, and creative excellence. During the mid-20th century, the Avenue was home to an expanding Black middle class, who expressed aspiration, pride, and progress through tailored suits, elegant gowns, and meticulously assembled streetwear. Black-owned boutiques, beauty salons, milliners, and menswear stores flourished, serving not only as retail hubs but also as community spaces where style became a form of empowerment. Detroit fashion has always been about more than clothes. It’s about identity, power, and presence.

That legacy remains alive in the work of today’s streetwear visionaries and couture designers, who draw inspiration from the past while challenging conventions and shaping Detroit’s fashion future. Whether through architectural tailoring that echoes classic Detroit suits, bold gender-fluid streetwear, or garments embedded with Afrofuturist narratives, each featured designer contributes to a living tradition of Detroit fashion—one that is deeply personal, distinctly local, and globally resonant.

Stitched Into History brings that legacy into conversation with the Hôtel de Talleyrand, a historic Parisian residence that has served as both a political and cultural landmark. Set within this exquisite interior, the exhibition invites reflection on how physical space and historical context influence our understanding of fashion. Originally constructed in the 18th century, the building's richly adorned interiors, once home to European aristocracy and later a hub for U.S. diplomacy, evoke a sense of grandeur, permanence, and layered history. These same qualities resonate in Detroit’s fashion scene today, a blend of refinement and reinvention.

This fusion of Detroit’s creative future with Paris’s historic elegance challenges the idea that fashion is either local or global, asserting that it is both. Here, Detroit’s designs stand not as guests in a grand European room, but as equal contributors to the ongoing global conversation about culture, artistry, and identity.

This exhibition affirms that fashion is more than what we wear—it is how we express who we are, where we come from, and where we’re going. In Detroit, fashion has always been a vehicle for resistance and redefinition. This exhibition carries that story forward.

Stitched Into History invites viewers to experience Detroit not just as a city of the past, but as a design capital of the future—where style is always soul-deep.