Mario Testino's Alta Moda Arrives at Dallas Contemporary in September

Fashion fever is not new to Dallas. Have you ever been to friggin' NorthPark Mall? People in this city earn and burn money fast and they spare no expense to look good. Why? Photographs, for one. For society pages, we've got Paper City, Beverly Drive magazine, Modern Luxury, and Patron...

By Lauren Smart

March 20, 2014

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Fashion fever is not new to Dallas. Have you ever been to friggin' NorthPark Mall? People in this city earn and burn money fast and they spare no expense to look good. Why? Photographs, for one. For society pages, we've got Paper City, Beverly Drive magazine, Modern Luxury, and Patron magazine. Even CultureMap's Dallas site gets most of its hits with inane, often alliterative headlines like "Pretty Posh People at Party" or "Hot Young Hotties Hanging Out."

I'm saying that here in Dallas we understand the importance of fashion and photography. Not that you really care what I'm saying, because the exciting news here is that Mario Testino's new photography exhibit, Alta Moda, will be on display at the Dallas Contemporary beginning September 20 and running through the end of the year.

Alta Moda, which means "high fashion" in Spanish premiered in last fall at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute in New York. Testino uses his eye for beauty and color to capture the traditional costumes of his native Peru. He follows in the footsteps of indigenous photographer, Martin Chambi, using a similarly dark backdrop to contrast the clothing's vivid colors.

Plan accordingly and buy a cute outfit and maybe you'll end up in a slideshow of people posing in front of some art.

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