NYC Exhibition Explores the Cultural Impact of 'Peanuts' Through Fashion, Sports and Music

Take a multi-dimensional trip through the world of series creator Charles M. Schulz

New York will be buzzing all month with Fashion Week, the U.S. Open—and “Snoopy In Style NYC,” hosted by Peanuts Worldwide.

The show celebrating the iconic comic strip and media franchise was timed to coincide with the other two events. Its main purpose is to invite audiences into the world of Peanuts series’ creator Charles M. Schulz and explore his lasting impact through fashion, sports and music.

The 16,000 square-foot exhibition in the Meatpacking District features 10 immersive experiences that fuse the strip’s themes with contemporary culture.

Snoopy: Forever in Fashion

“Fashion was embedded in Schulz’s storytelling from the beginning,” says Gina Huntsinger, director of The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center. “Charlie Brown‘s zigzag shirt became a visual signature. Lucy and Sally‘s wardrobes changed with the times. And Snoopy could transform himself into Joe Cool simply through sunglasses and a turtleneck. Schulz paid attention to what people wore and used clothing as another way of communicating character and personality.”

In fact, Snoopy fashion exhibitions date back to 1982 in San Francisco. That event sparked an international phenomenon, inspiring major shows in France and Japan. 

For this year’s NYC extravaganza, numerous brands and designers have created custom pieces for Snoopy and Woodstock. These include Adidas, American Eagle, Coach, Collina Strada, GAPStudio designed by Zac Posen, Kith, Levi’s, Michael Kors Collection and Tommy Hilfiger.

Snoopy’s first appearance in a New York Fashion Week event was in 2007, and Huntsinger notes that New York has a particularly meaningful connection to Charles Schulz and Peanuts. 

“Schulz first came to New York in 1950 to show his early Li’l Folks cartoons to United Feature Syndicate. That meeting resulted in the contract for what became Peanuts,” she says.

Schulz Was an Ally of Women in Sports

Schulz was a lifelong sports fan, and tennis became an important part of his life and his work. Appearing early in the strip’s history, the game eventually inspired characters including Molly Volley, Crybaby Boobie and Bad Call Benny.

Most significantly, Schulz and Billie Jean King forged a friendship and shared a commitment to advancing women in sports and society. 

“Schulz became a trustee of the Women’s Sports Foundation and used Peanuts to draw attention to gender inequality in athletics,” says Huntsinger. “In 1979, he used statistics supplied by the Foundation in strips about disparities in collegiate athletic funding.”

“The exhibition therefore connects fashion and sport because both reveal something fundamental about Schulz: he was intensely observant of the world around him, and he incorporated those interests and convictions into Peanuts,” Huntsinger says.

Peanuts’ Jazzy Soundtrack Lives in the Head of an Entire Generation

Music is also integral to Schulz’s legacy, and is brought to life through the Joe Cool’s Listening Lounge at the exhibition.

The lounge, named for one of Snoopy’s many alter egos, features a DJ booth that plays the Peanuts soundtrack and Vince Guaraldi‘s memorable jazz compositions. Vintage records, archival material and exclusive merchandise inspired by the music are intended to give visitors a sense of the cultural impact Joe Cool—and all of the gang—made.

“So rather than treating Snoopy simply as a fashion icon, the exhibition uses fashion, music and sport as ways into the much larger story of Schulz, his creative process, his values and the continuing cultural relevance of Peanuts,” says Huntsinger.

The exhibition runs through Sept. 26. 

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