Grand Exhibition Opening Reception – Palm Beach Illustrated

Endless Summer: Palm Beach Resort Wear

Presented in partnership with The Palm Beaches

Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum, 1916 Courthouse

Open to the public: November 9, 2023 – May 25, 2024

Exhibit Opening VIP Reception: November 8, 2023

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, 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.

A grand exhibition deserves a grand opening! In celebration of Endless Summer: Palm Beach Resort Wear, on the evening before its public opening, the Historical Society of Palm Beach County will host an Opening Reception offering three ticket levels. Click here to get your tickets and to learn more about this exciting event!

The Historical Society of Palm Beach County and the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach

County History Museum offer their thanks to those whose donations helped make possible Endless Summer: Palm Beach Resort Wear.

Special Guest Curator
Cameron Silver

Host Committee Chair
Sonja Stevens