The first exhibition dedicated to designer Daryl Kerrigan will open in New York

The first exhibition dedicated to designer Daryl Kerrigan, founder of the New York fashion brand Daryl K, will open on November 1 at Verse Gallery in Red Hook, New York.

Dubbed “Daryl K: I Am My Muse,” the exhibit celebrates Kerrigan's influence on downtown style and her continuing legacy as an independent creative force.

Born in Ireland, Daryl Kerrigan immigrated to New York in the 1980s with a vision of empowering women through clothing. Kerrigan's collections were praised by Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times and W Magazine, and she received the CFDA Perry Ellis Emerging Talent Award.

Curated by Nina Stritzler-Levine, the exhibition brings together more than 50 archival designs, photographs, sketches and short films in four thematic sections. At the center of the exhibition is the concept of “self-muse”.

Having modeled her own designs throughout her career, Kerrigan celebrates women as her own sources of inspiration.

The exhibition also highlights Kerrigan's unconventional runway presentations, from shows atop the Lever Building and in the Gagosian Gallery to one held in an empty swimming pool. A new digital archive of Daryl K's collections will debut alongside the exhibition, as well as a pop-up Daryl K store.

“Verse is an ideal location for this exhibition,” said Stritzler-Levine, “because it is a space where traditional hierarchies in the art world dissolve. Here, the intersections of Daryl Kerrigan's art and thought are fully revealed.”