SAINT LOUIS, MO.- The Saint Louis Art Museum is presenting Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715–2015, an exhibition that celebrates a rich history of restraint and resplendence in menswear. The ticketed exhibition is on view from June 25 through Sept. 17.

Featuring more than 150 looks, Reigning Men traces cultural influences over the centuries, examines how elements of the uniform have profoundly shaped fashionable dress, and reveals how cinching and padding the body was—and is—not exclusive to women.

Reigning Men is drawn primarily from the renowned collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which organized the exhibition. When it premiered last year, The Los Angeles Times praised the exhibition as a “deep dive into the forces that have literally and figuratively shaped men’s fashion in a different—and delightful—way.”

“Fashion has not been a major collecting area for the Saint Louis Art Museum, so we felt a project based on scholarship and objects of exceptional quality would be an appropriate and exciting addition to our schedule,” said Brent R. Benjamin, Barbara B. Taylor Director of the Saint Louis Art Museum. “Because of the extraordinary collection and curatorial expertise of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Reigning Men is an exhibition we were eager to bring to St. Louis.”

The exhibition explores the history of men’s fashionable dress while re-examining the equation of “fashion” with “femininity.”

Beginning with the 18th century, the male aristocrat wore a three-piece suit conspicuous in make and style, and equally as lavish as the opulent dress of his female counterpart. The 19th-century “dandy” made famous a more refined brand of expensive elegance which became the hallmark of Savile Row. The mid-20th-century “mod” relished in the colorful and modern styles of Carnaby Street, and the 21st-century man—in an ultra-chic “skinny suit” by day and a flowered tuxedo by night—redefines today’s concept of masculinity.

The presentation at the Saint Louis Art Museum is co-curated by Genevieve Cortinovis, assistant curator of decorative arts and design, and Zoe A. Perkins, textile conservator.

The Saint Louis Art Museum will offer an array of exhibition-related programming, including lectures, gallery talks and family programs that expand on the themes of Reigning Men.