PRESS RELEASE

KARL: THE ART OF FASHION

KARL: THE ART OF FASHION

Opening: October 3rd, 2025

On View: October 3rd–November 3rd, 2025

Fashion Show by Brandin Vaughn | Exhibition of Artists Working Across Mixed Media, Textiles & Fabric

KARL is pleased to announce The Art of Fashion, opening October 3, 2025, with a live fashion show featuring Tony award winning and acclaimed designer Brandin Vaughn, known for dressing some of the biggest names in entertainment— such as Beyoncé in her historic Cowboy Carter and Renaissance Tours.

This collaborative exhibition continues KARL’s mission to dissolve the boundaries between disciplines, this time highlighting artists and designers working across mixed media, textiles, and fabric-based practices—materials and modes historically dismissed as craft but now decisively re-evaluated within the canon of contemporary fine art.

From quilting and garment construction to assemblage and soft sculpture, The Art of Fashion asks: what is fashion if not sculpture worn? What is fiber if not form? What happens when the seam becomes a gesture, the pattern a conceptual strategy?

Anchored by Brandin Vaughn’s presentation, the show will feature a curated group of artists who harness the language of material—thread, cloth, dye, repetition, touch—to explore identity, labor, and the gendered histories of making. Their work challenges the hierarchies that have long divided “art” from “craft,” and invites viewers to consider the aesthetic and political power embedded in the textile tradition.

This fall edition of KARL is both a celebration and a reclamation—of fashion as fine art, of fabric as theory, and of the artists whose practices bridge the tactile and the conceptual.

Opening Night Schedule:
October 3, 2025

6:00PM – 9:00PM
6:00 PM – Doors Open
7:00 PM – Fashion Show by Brandin Vaughn

Location:
Levi’s Plaza
1255 Battery Street, San Francisco, CA 94111

Participating Organizations:

COL Gallery

Exhibited.At

Jonathan Carver Moore

Venus & Victory

TINT Gallery

MAG Galleries

Re.Riddle

SLATE Contemporary

Creativity Explored

NIAD

Sponsors and Partners:
Sony
MoAD

About KARL:

KARL is a collaborative curatorial platform created by a collective of Bay Area galleries and nonprofits, committed to expanding space for experimental, inclusive, and intergenerational exhibitions. Each iteration centers on a theme and offers a site for cross-disciplinary dialogue, championing artists and thinkers reshaping the future of culture
About The Brandin Vaughn Collection:

The Brandin Vaughn Collection is a dynamic fashion house rooted in craftsmanship, storytelling, and cultural legacy. Founded by acclaimed designer Brandin Vaughn, the brand blends timeless tailoring with bold, contemporary design. Known for dressing some of the biggest names in entertainment—including working on Beyoncé’s historic Cowboy Carter Tour—and for costuming acclaimed theatrical productions, the Collection embodies a commitment to creativity, authenticity, and social impact.

From custom couture and ready-to-wear apparel to costume design for stage and screen, the Brandin Vaughn Collection celebrates individuality while honoring heritage. Each piece reflects Vaughn’s signature ability to merge fashion with art, movement, and community, creating garments that not only command the runway but also inspire conversations about culture and identity.

With features in Forbes, The New York Times, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, partnerships with institutions like The Muny Theatre, and collaborations with international artists, the Brandin Vaughn Collection has become a symbol of excellence and innovation. More than a fashion label, it is a platform for empowerment, mentorship, and reimagining the future of design.
Levi’s Plaza:

Levi’s Plaza is a 9.4-acre, 930,000 square-foot office campus located along San Francisco’s Embarcadero in the city’s northern waterfront market. Constructed in 1981 as the corporate headquarters for iconic clothing brand Levi Strauss & Company, Levi’s Plaza is now home to a diverse mix of businesses and organizations across industry sectors. Real estate investment firm Jamestown acquired the campus in 2019 and is working to preserve the character and significance of the property’s open space, which was designed by renowned landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. As part of its retrofit of the property, Jamestown is also enhancing the campus with new amenities and efficiencies for the modern workforce, including initiating a clean energy transition that will make the property net zero operational carbon in 2025.  

 For press inquiries, images, or interviews, please contact:

karlartsf@gmail.com