Fort Works Art is turning its Cultural District gallery into a runway for one night, staging a fashion and art experience called The Marilyn Effect alongside an exhibition of Marilyn Monroe photographs by Lawrence Schiller. The event pairs Schiller’s historic images with looks from Western wear maker M.L. Leddy’s and luxury retailer Forty Five Ten, plus styling from Fort Worth silk brand Wild Silks. Tickets start at $250.
The timing carries extra weight for the gallery. According to CultureMap Fort Worth, the event doubles as a showcase of Schiller’s photographs alongside a runway presentation, a gallery night, and a preview of a project called Collected by Christi. The gallery night also unveils Threads of Us, an interactive fashion work created by event guests. As PaperCity Magazine reports, the show lands during a double milestone: 2026 marks both the 100th anniversary of Monroe’s birth on June 1, 1926, and the 10th anniversary of Fort Works Art itself, with gallery owner Lauren Saba organizing the event to commemorate both.
A Photographer’s Front-Row Seat to Monroe’s Final Days
The photographs at the center of the show trace back to a pivotal moment in Hollywood history. Schiller captured his now-iconic poolside images of Monroe in May and June 1962 on the set of Something’s Got to Give, the same account notes, the actress’s final and uncompleted film before her death that August at age 36. Monroe earned $100,000 for the role while her contemporary Elizabeth Taylor made $1 million for Cleopatra, the outlet adds.
Schiller was only 25 when he talked his way into the poolside shoot, according to Taschen. He reportedly convinced Monroe to let him shoot the photos by telling her she was already famous and could make him famous too, a pitch that drew a teasing reply from the star that photographers could easily be replaced. She agreed to the shoot anyway. Fort Worth Art previously covered a related chapter of Schiller’s Monroe work when Hoodline reported on the Hotel del Coronado exhibit extension of his Something’s Got to Give photographs.
Fifty Silk Scarves Tie Fashion to the Archive
To mark the exhibition, Fort Worth Art and Wild Silks collaborated with Schiller himself to produce a limited-edition run of just 50 silk scarves, per the same PaperCity account, each featuring his June 1, 1962 photograph taken on Monroe’s final day on the movie set. That image previously appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine in 1962, the outlet notes. Wild Silks was launched in March 2024 by Fort Worth native Christi Braswell, who founded the luxury textile brand after searching for custom mulberry silk linings for inherited vintage fur coats, according to 360 West Magazine. The brand manufactures 100% mulberry silk printed by Italian textile mills that adhere to Hermès quality standards, the magazine reports…