Dear Diane, dear Shaded Viewers; from 12 October 2007 to 20 January 2008 over 200 creations by the most important designers from the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will be on display at the Palazzo Strozzi in the exhibition ControModa: Contemporary fashion from the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Visitors will be able to see clothing that revolutionized the world of fashion in the stunning historic rooms of the Palazzo Strozzi, a masterpiece of Italian Renaissance architecture, situated in the heart of Florence facing the Piazza Strozzi and Via Tornabuoni. The Palazzo Strozzi is set to become the cultural platform for the city, with a series of exciting and endlessly varied exhibitions and events.
This exhibition confirms Florence as long history as a fashion centre of international importance.
ControModa examines how far traditional concepts of style and fashion have been restructured in the past three decades. The works of designers featured demonstrate that fashion is a way of interpreting the world and a vital record of cultural and social change.
The exhibition illustrates how conventional ideas about beauty have been challenged in recent years and what questions have been asked about the concept of taste. New concepts in fashion engendered a new way of thinking, and overturned the old rules regarding shape, proportion and ornamentation. ControModa looks at contemporary fashion from four perspectives:
Construction: The study of the traditional aspects of construction has led to new canons of beauty based on asymmetry, startling contrasts, innovative juxtapositions and the exposure of inner structural details.
Materials: New materials from rapidly advancing developments in textile technology changed the need for precise construction details; moulding and sculpting the body or creating volumetric shapes could be accomplished solely with the structural properties of synthetic fibres. Heat or chemical processing produced unique and visually exciting textural surfaces and decoration.
Form: New concepts about form accompanied innovative developments in both construction and technology. With unconventional or idiosyncratic focus on limbs and torsos, designers challenged the tyranny of the traditional body image
Concept: The concept behind the garment became a focus of creative energy. Some designers mined and manipulated elements of costume history, some collaborated with artists, while others used their work as vehicles for social commentary
A special educational gallery is filled with costumes designed by Issey Miyake for William Forsythe and the Frankfurt Ballet, Visitors will have the opportunity to wear the costumes, thus providing an immediate experience of contemporary fashion.
Fashion houses and designers included:
Gilbert Adrian, Azzedine Alaia, Giorgio Armani, Cristobal Balenciaga, Geoffrey Beene, Pierre Cardin, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Hussein Chalayan, Jean Dessès, Christian Dior, Christopher Bailey for Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gianfranco Ferré, Dolce & Gabbana, James Galanos, John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Rudi Gernreich, Romeo Gigli, Madame Grès, Gucci, Yoshiki Hishinuma, Akihiko Izukura, Charles James, Norma Kamali, Rei Kawakubo, Patrick Kelly, Krizia, Lachasse LTD., Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Hervé Léger, Martin Margiela, Antonio Marras, Missoni, Moschino, Issey Miyake, Thierry Mugler, Alexander McQueen, Prada, Emilio Pucci, Reiko Sudo, Takezo, Philip Treacy, Gianni Versace, Junya Watanabe, Vivienne Westwood, Yohji Yamamoto, Andrea Zittel.
The exhibition and catalogue are dedicated to Gianfranco Ferr
