Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala dress row: Experts tell us how Indian museums preserve textile heritage

In her latest interview with the ‘Today's Show', Kim Kardashian addressed the rumours claiming she damaged American actor and singer Marilyn Monroe's legendary gown, while she wore it at the 2022 Met Gala. The dress at the heart of the controversy was worn by Monroe in 1962 to sing ‘Happy birthday' for the then President John F Kennedy, considered to be one of the most iconic moments in American history.

While Kardashian has denied the accusations, the issue also prompted a letter by ‘Ripley's Believe It or Not!', the organisation that preserves the dress, that there was no damage caused to the costume as it was worn by Kardashian for 3-4 minutes and that the garment was intact. As Monroe fans rage over the probability of the dress getting damaged, the row highlights the fact that a celebrity outfit having historic relevance was actually preserved for so many years and makes one wonder about how it was done.

As Deepth Sasidharan, art historian and director at Eka Cultural Resources and Research, puts it, "Kardashian could wear the dress, because someone took the responsibility of preserving it." This, she says, is a rare phenomenon in India, despite its rich and diverse social and cultural heritage history.

To further understand what goes into conserving age-old textiles and apparels and the current challenges in taking up such projects, Mid-Day Online spoke to Sasidharan and Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Managing Trustee and Director of Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai, which has a vast collection of textiles, including a rare set of ‘Textile Manufactures of India' (1866) from the 18 volumes by John Forbes Watson, which has 40 swatches of fabrics mounted on paper from across different regions and communities of India.

Is there a standard process for preserving textiles, fabrics or a piece of clothing for years in museums? If not, please explain the different methods followed.

Mehta: The Museum's collection of textiles includes richly embroidered fabrics from Iran, Sindh, Kutch, Kathiawad, Kashmir, and Dharwar; brocades or kinkhabs with gold and silver threads from Surat and Ahmedabad; saris with rare weaves, for eg, patola saris from Patan, Benarasi silk sari, paithani from Yeola, Himroo sari; turban fabrics from Gujarat; and pile carpets from Yerawada Jail and the Reay Art Workshops that were set up at the Sir JJ School of Art.

Conservation and preservation treatments vary depending on the type of raw material and embroidery work done on the fabric:

1. Saris

Avoid folding saris and roll them instead to ensure a long lifespan. Acid free tissue papers can be used if the textiles need to be folded. Textile pieces smaller than saris need not be rolled and stored and can be folded or stored flat.

2. Kinkhabs

Since these often have threads made of precious metals, the textile is first cleaned so that there is no dust and the fabric is properly backed and lined for display.

3. Textile Manufactures of India by Watson

Since this compilation includes multiple types of textiles mounted on paper, they were first separated from the paper, given appropriate treatment according to the fabric type and then remounted on thick acid free paper and rebound.

4. Carpets

Need to be washed or vacuumed and aired out once every few years.

It is a periodic process that is followed as often as required depending on the nature of the textile and its state of conservation. Textiles that are not in an extremely fragile condition should be examined thoroughly by an experienced curator and conservator at least once in every five years.

A handspun blouse from Dharwar, Karnataka (1890/1950). Image courtesy: Dr Bhau Daji Lad museum

Does every material require different types of care?

Mehta: Yes, depending on the various components in individual textiles, they require different care. For example, wool has protein fibres and needs more care than cotton threads, which are made of glucose. Any wool fabric needs to be rested and isolated more than other types of fabric. Similarly, silk is very brittle and needs to be handled carefully and often stabilised.

Printed and dyed fabrics have to be given non-aqueous or non-water-based treatment as these fabrics consist of natural colour pigments that can dissolve or run when exposed to water. Ethnographic materials such as textiles and clothes that were once worn by a particular community often have decorative elements made of metal or mirror work, which should be detached if possible from the fabric as they require different treatments from the fabric. Conservators must ensure that any treatments to fabrics is reversible and is not detrimental to the multiple components that make up a piece of cloth.

How different is the process of preserving complete clothing from textiles?

Sasidharan: Costumes are usually more complex in composition and may include a variety of materials like cotton, silk, leather, metal, shell, bone, ivory etc while fabrics are usually uniform in composition and/or weave. Preservation processes are similar in both but the approaches are different - a sari is more a textile fabric than say a metal-thread-embroidered-on-brocade jacket.

Curators inspect their collections periodically and the conservators will take the required preventive and precautionary measures. These are usually undertaken by skilled conservators who undergo years of training to understand the fabric of clothes and costumes and can bring it back to life. They strengthen fragile fabric, repair tears and fabric losses and can sometimes even recreate fabric. In both cases, knowledge and experience is needed but ultimately they must be kept in a certain way to ensure long term preservation.

Kinkhab from Ahmedabad (1890/1950). Image courtesy: Ruta Waghmare

What are the challenges in preserving textiles in terms of their everyday care, storage and lifespan?

Mehta: One of the challenges which can emerge at times is the shortage of space for displaying some of these textiles. Depending on the condition, textiles need to be taken off display and rested at regular intervals. The BDL Museum has an embroidered chaddar from Sindh on display in a vertical showcase. Half the textile is rolled onto a wooden rod and suspended from the top of a vertical display case and only half the textile is on display to avoid damage due to exposure to light, while kinkhabs are displayed flat to avoid any stress on the fabric. All the showcases have silica gel placed inside and a dehumidifier placed across the floor at strategic intervals to control humidity and prevent fungus from developing inside the showcase.

Sasidharan: Preservation of costumes worn by famous personalities is done in India, but they are mainly spread across personal museums and private entities, for example, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust in Delhi treasures former prime minister Indira Gandhi's sari and belongings she wore while she was assassinated in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi's trousers, shoes and socks worn by him when assassinated in 1991.

Most cities in India or communities would not invest in preserving their heritage. It is important to credit people who wilfully invest in preserving them and those who understand the power of the fabric and its history. Such projects can be encouraged by raising awareness, initiating conversations and building more museums for further exposure.

How important is conservation of attires or clothing items in studying fashion history and evolution?

Sasidharan: India has a rich and versatile history of clothing and each community identifies itself with their clothing. By studying how these textiles are manufactured, how they are embroidered or woven and how they are worn and accessories, we learn important patterns of community beliefs, customs and traditions.

Even if you look at the regional variations of a simple garment like the sari, there are hundreds of drapes, forms and weaves. Within it are coded the variations of class and community. The nine-yard cotton nauvari is worn simply by the koli fisherwoman as she goes about her daily hectic life, but the same garment when worn by a Maratha queen becomes almost gown-like as well as rich and opulent. Evolving styles help us understand socio-political history of the period, specific to local geographies and fashion history offers explanations.

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