Explore Fashion’s Feathered History in Cleveland

Fashion and natural history may not seem like they have a connection. But as you walk through Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s newest exhibition, “Fashion & Feather,” their link becomes clear.

The cross-disciplinary showcase opened April 22 in partnership with Kent State University’s School of Fashion Design and Merchandising and the Kent State University Museum. The exhibition is spread across the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Visitor Hall and its second-floor Corning Gallery. (The exhibition runs through Oct. 11, 2026, and can be partially viewed for free in the Visitor Hall with Corning Gallery access available with a general admission ticket.)

“Birds have been really integral in fashion over the millennia,” says Sara Hume, professor and curator at the Kent State University Museum. “People have always looked at birds as beautiful.”

The idea for the exhibition came about after Cleveland Museum of Natural History CEO Sonya Winner visited and was inspired by a 2018 exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London titled "Fashioned from Nature." The purpose of that display was to explore the complex relationship between fashion and nature and presented historical garments alongside natural-history specimens, taxidermy and unprocessed plant and animal fibers. 

The Kent State University Museum had presented a similar exhibition in 2018 titled “For the Birds,“ which explored the influence of birds on fashion and decorative arts. Initial meetings between Cleveland Museum of Natural History leadership and and Kent State University Museum and school of fashion began over a year ago to discuss how the two could partner for an exhibition focused on fashion and sustainability.

The Visitor Hall portion of “Fashion & Feather” explores the vital function of feathers for avian species alongside historical fashion pieces using those feathers and ornithological taxidermy, while discussing the threats birds have come under when hunted for their plumage.

“The hunting that's gone on for the bird species almost led to the extinction of various species at the end of the 19th century,” Hume says. “And so there was legislation put in place in 1918 to protect birds, and it was really because of the hat trade.”

Kent State University students from the junior design studio course were tasked with using biomimicry, or the practice of imitating the designs of nature, to create gowns based on avian species without using any real feathers. The works were then selected through a critique process conducted by staff from the Kent State University Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Portage Park District’s education program coordinator Holly Stoneberg. In the end, ten pieces were selected for the exhibit.

Eight of these garments are displayed in the upstairs Corning Gallery, and two dresses in the Visitor Hall, alongside information on the mimicked bird species and sketches of original design.

"I think [the exhibit] allows people to sort of see themselves and situate themselves in this story of nature and how what we wear and how we dress, has an impact on the world” Hume says. “There should be some sort of understanding and appreciation of what the consequences are."

For more information, visit cmnh.org.

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