Talley Prepares Museum Exhibition

“Walls are being painted, all of the dresses are basically in place,” said André Leon Talley, on the phone from the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he was putting the finishing touches on the first exhibition in the André Leon Talley Gallery in the school’s new museum of art. The gallery will be one of the central features of the museum, which is reopening on Saturday within the ruins of a 19th-century Greek Revival building that was once home to the Central of Georgia Railway.

Mr. Talley, a longtime contributing editor of Vogue and a board member at the college, has recruited major designers like Miuccia Prada, Tom Ford and Manolo Blahnik to appear at the college over the years, and now he is helping to build a costume collection that will include many of his own archives and donations from friends. The first exhibition will focus on iconic designs by past recipients of the ALT Lifetime Achievement awards, which SCAD presents at a fashion show for its graduating class each year.

Oscar de la Renta sent long slim black gown that was worn by Penélope Cruz at a Costume Institute gala. Diane Von Furstenberg provided a black sequined wrap dress. There is a coat trimmed with plastic fringe and feathers from the fall 2007 Prada collection, and Mr. Ford’s evening column trimmed with natural string from his first signature women’s show. From Mr. Blahnik, he chose those blue satin shoes from the “Sex and the City” film.

“People love fashion exhibits because they can fantasize,” Mr. Talley said. “They can respond to a dress even if they can never wear a dress like that.”

Mr. Talley is becoming something of an expert in museums. With Mr. de la Renta, he is also preparing an exhibition of paintings by the Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla, called “Joaquín Sorolla and the Glory of Spanish Dress,” that will open at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute in Manhattan in December.

The SCAD museum’s expansion, part of a $26 million project, also includes exhibition space for a range of contemporary artists. Mr. Talley’s gallery is sandwiched between works by Bill Viola and Kehinde Wiley. Naturally, he wanted his to stand out and added a video display that shows Mr. Blahnik making milkshakes on “The Martha Stewart Show.” Mr. Talley said he will have music from “2001: A Space Odyssey” playing in the background.

“The only thing I haven’t thrust upon them yet is that I want fragrance wafting through the ventilation system,” he said. “Either Oscar de la Renta’s Live in Love, or Diane Von Furstenberg’s Diane.”

Paula Wallace, the president and a founder of the college, later said that Mr. Talley could do anything he wants. “He has not mentioned that to me, but if André wants it, he gets it,” she said. “The multisensory concept is so important. We learn, we feel, we think, we smell. Actually, I think it’s a grand idea.”