The Brooklyn Museum’s impeccably timed retrospective, Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion coincides with both the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and a nationwide heat-wave. While curator Matthew Yokobsky can’t reasonably be credited with the latter, it may be the push audiences need to reconsider the 97-year-old designer who was once heir-apparent to Christian Dior, and a household name.

Cardin’s prolific (and ongoing) seven-decade career provides more than enough for a retrospective, and his bold aesthetic covers a large swath of the museum’s top floor with archival photos, fashion and furniture; he’s even taken over the museum’s restaurant, now redecorated to mimic Maxim’s, the iconic Parisian restaurant purchased by the designer in 1981.

While the mood throughout the exhibition recalls 60s futurism, the themes feel fresh again: gender neutrality, innovation in fabrics, model diversity (his most notable muse was Hiroko Matsumodo of Japan; he also staged a show with students of La Sorbonne), and a global mindset — in 1984, his take on the couture bride was a pair of models, one in Western white, the other in red, the color of brides in India and China. The exhibition also explores his innovation as a businessman, including his choices to go into ready-to-wear and to license his name widely, a controversial move that afforded him financial freedom.

Highlights include a 1957 caramel wool lasso-back suit, an extensive collection of parabolic dresses, ‘Cosmocorps’ men’s and womenswear, and photos of the designer himself traveling the world. While one can feel the length of his legendary career (see: Jacqueline Kennedy’s First Lady-era day suit, pilling slightly from many wears), work from throughout sits together easily, bringing viewers deeply into Cardin’s world of equality, possibility and innovation.

Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion is on view at the Brooklyn Museum from July 20, 2019 – January 5, 2020.