Endless Summer:
Palm Beach Resort Wear

Endless Summer: Palm Beach Resort Wear November 9, 2023 - May 25, 2024

Richard & Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum
This season the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum will present its first-ever Grand Exhibition. Endless Summer will explore the impact Palm Beach made on resort fashion over the last 129 years, as it solidified itself as one of America’s premier luxury destinations, where winter comes to summer. In this top fashion hub, brands such as Gucci, Chanel, Philip Hulitar, and St. John, as well as iconic fashion influencers such as Jacqueline Kennedy, Lilly Pulitzer, and others adopted fresh new looks, ingenuity, and a philanthropic spirit.

The Fashion Beaux Arts, a fashion and entertainment mecca in Palm Beach from 1916 to 1942, included the latest New York and Paris fashion houses, transforming Palm Beach into the winter fashion capital of the world. When the 1920s building boom that followed World War I caused a demand for accessible fashions from Europe, the rise of Worth Avenue began, and the Palm Beach look was born. After World War II, the Royal Poinciana Plaza was built, and the luxurious lifestyle in Palm Beach became synonymous with fashion, specifically resort wear.

A force in retail luxury fashion, Martha Phillips—joined by her daughter Lynn Manulis—brought leading couture designers to Martha’s Boutique on Worth Avenue. Martha’s legacy lives on in the fashion icons she encouraged and promoted in the North American marketplace, including Valentino and Zang Toi.

The Johnson History Museum invited Cameron Silver, King of Vintage, to share his perspective as guest curator of Endless Summer: Palm Beach Resort Wear. Curated artifacts from many private collections, as well as Kent State University, the Pucci Archives, and the Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages, join treasures from the Historical Society of Palm Beach County’s Collection to showcase the importance of Palm Beach in fashion history.

 

The Historical Society of Palm Beach County and the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum offer their thanks to those who helped make possible Endless Summer: Palm Beach Resort Wear. 

Special Guest Curator
Cameron Silver

Content Contributor 
Rick Rose

Host Committee, Chair
Sonja Stevens

Host Committee

Kenneth Baboun

Lori Berg

Brian Cantor

Caroline Collings

Valerie Cooper

Linda Salandra Dweck

Shari Liu Fellows

Beth Fishel

Tommy Hilfiger

Janet Himmel

Eleanora Kennedy

Paul Labrecque

Daphne Nikolopoulos

Dee Ocleppo

Anka Palitz

Lisa Perry

Farley Rentschler

Jean Shafiroff

Krystian von Speidel

Steven Stolman

Veronica Webb

Sarah Wetenhall

Artist in Residence
Camilla Webster

Junior Committee, Chair
Katherine Lande

Junior Committee

Collin Adams

Bettina  Anderson

Kent Anderson 

Samantha Anderson

Lizzi Bickford

Nikki Cooney

Devorah Ezagui 

Lilly Leas Ferreira 

Danielle Goreski

Jay  Hartigan

Ryan Hollihan

Brooke Kosinski

Stacey Leuliette

Patrick McNeely

Molly Mele

Nick Mele

Heather Mnuchin 

Charlotte Munder 

Whitney Schott

Cori Lee Seaberg 

Sue Jin Seth

Hillary Thomas 

Grace Hyde Walker 

Sarah Bray West

Title Sponsor

Media Sponsor

Main Contributing Partners

Additional Brands Represented in the Exhibition

Ala Von Auersperg

Alfred Fiandaca

Bill Blass

Chanel

Christian Dior

Halston

Hulitar

Kirna Zabete

Marissa’s Collections

Patrick Kelly

Valentino

Additional Partners

Discover the Palm Beaches

Kassatly’s

Lycette

Maus & Hoffman

Out East Rose

Paul Labrecque Salon & Skincare Spa

Royal by Amy Royal

The Colony Hotel

The Royal

Worth Avenue Association

Additional Engagement Opportunities

The Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum

Admission is FREE to the public. The museum is located on the 2nd floor of the restored 1916 Courthouse at 300 North Dixie Highway, in downtown West Palm Beach.

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