Charles Harbison
Hickory Museum of Art reopens with a season of exhibitions
that honor the past while looking to the future.
Follow The Golden Thread through your new museum.
September 6, 2026 - January 31, 2027
Whitener, Shuford, Coe, engageHMA,
and 3rd Floor Galleries
Reopening Preview Party with
Special Guest Charles Harbison
Saturday, September 5 | 7 PM
Marking its grand return after a year-long transformation, Hickory Museum of Art (HMA) is making a stylish grand return. HMA has partnered with acclaimed fashion designer Charles Harbison to “dress the museum” for a spectacular inaugural exhibition. For the first time in HMA’s 80-year history, a single guest artist will exhibit on all three floors. Harbison’s showcase, The Women, anchors HMA’s reopening theme, The Golden Thread—a celebration that honors our rich history while looking ahead to the future.
At the heart of the exhibition are four custom silhouettes created by Harbison, each inspired by specific paintings he selected from HMA’s permanent collection. These new works will sit alongside defining pieces from the Harbison Studio Archives and some of the designer’s most famous red-carpet moments—including Met Gala looks for Simone Biles, Mindy Kaling, Audra McDonald and John Imah. All looks will be paired with paintings and sculpture from the museum’s collection including works by Roy Lichtenstein, Juan Logan, Robert Motherwell, Selma Burke, and Alexander Calder.
Harbison’s work will be paired with paintings and sculpture from HMA’s Collection. Anya Fisher [1905-1992], Female, gouache on paper, From the Collection of Barry and Allen Huffman, Gift, 2015.23.
Simone Biles at the Met Gala on May 5, 2025.
Courtesy of Harbison Studio
About the Artist
Based in Los Angeles, Charles Harbison is the creative force behind harbison.studio, a modern luxury design house built on an ethos of optimistic luxury, gender fluidity, cultural storytelling, and sustainable practice.
Before launching his eponymous brand in 2013, Harbison forged a prominent career in New York City, working as a textile and apparel designer for legacy houses including Michael Kors Collection, Luca Luca, and Billy Reid. His initial collections earned rapid critical acclaim, championed by Vogue, Elle, and The New York Times, leading to high-profile moments dressing cultural icons such as Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, and Ava DuVernay. Harbison has design-directed contemporary brands like Cult Gaia and Ungaro, collaborated with Banana Republic, and led design conversations at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Barnes Foundation.
Harbison was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, where he developed an early passion for fashion watching the transformative power of clothing in his working-class mother's life. He went on to study Fine Arts, Painting, and Fiber Arts & Textile Science at North Carolina State University’s College of Design. Following graduation, he spent a year abroad studying Central Asian before completing postgraduate fashion studies at Parsons School of Design in New York City. This major exhibition at HMA marks a deeply personal homecoming project for the designer.
Exhibition Sponsors
TSH Charitable Trust
Arts Culture Catawba
Beaver Family Foundation
Corning Foundation
Patterson Pope
Hickory Community Relations Council
This project was supported by a grant from Arts Culture Catawba