SCHIAPARELLI AND PRADA: IMPOSSIBLE CONVERSATIONS @ THE MET
07/05/2012.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [NYC] USA 10/05 – 19/08, 2012
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
The Met's Spring 2012 Costume Institute exhibition, Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, explores the striking affinities between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, two Italian designers from different eras. Inspired by Miguel Covarrubias's "Impossible Interviews" for Vanity Fair in the 1930s, the exhibition features orchestrated conversations between these iconic women to suggest new readings of their most innovative work.
Iconic ensembles will be presented with videos of simulated conversations between Schiaparelli and Prada directed by Baz Luhrmann, focusing on how both women explore similar themes in their work through very different approaches.
Iconic ensembles will be presented with videos of simulated conversations between Schiaparelli and Prada directed by Baz Luhrmann, focusing on how both women explore similar themes in their work through very different approaches.
Catalogue. Schiaparelli & Prada: Impossible Conversations.
George Hoyningen-Huené (Russian, 1900–1968). Portrait of Elsa Schiaparelli, 1932. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hoyningen-Huené/Vogue; © Condé Nast.
Guido Harari (Italian, born Cairo, 1952). Portrait of Miuccia Prada, 1999. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guido Harari/Contrasto/Redux.
Wallis Simpson in Elsa Schiaparelli, Vogue, June 1, 1937. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by Cecil Beaton, Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby's.
Miuccia Prada, spring/summer 2011. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by © David Sims.
Diana Vreeland in Elsa Schiaparelli, Harper’s Bazaar, April 1937. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by Louise Dahl-Wolfe. Louise Dahl-Wolfe Archive / © 2012 Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents.
Miuccia Prada, spring/summer 2005. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by © Toby McFarlan Pond.
In celebration of the Met's Spring 2012 Costume Institute exhibition, Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, and for the first time in the event's history, red carpet arrivals at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's renowned Costume Institute Benefit will be live streamed here on Monday, May 7, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Hosted by Vogue's William Norwich and Elettra Wiedemann, the broadcast will include interviews with the gala co-chairs, including Carey Mulligan, Miuccia Prada, and Anna Wintour, as well as celebrities from the worlds of fashion, film, society, sports, art, business, and music. The hosts will ask attending celebrities five additional questions chosen from viewer submissions on Twitter (#MetQuestions) during the live stream. You can join the conversation about the exhibition and gala benefit by following the Met on Facebook and Twitter.
The exhibition will showcase approximately ninety designs and thirty accessories by Schiaparelli (1890–1973) from the late 1920s to the early 1950s and by Prada from the late 1980s to the present. Drawn from The Costume Institute's collection and the Prada Archive, as well as other institutions and private collections, signature objects by both designers will be arranged in seven themed galleries: "Waist Up/Waist Down," "Ugly Chic," "Hard Chic," "Naïf Chic," "The Classical Body," "The Exotic Body," and "The Surreal Body."
Schiaparelli, who worked in Paris from the 1920s until her house closed in 1954, was closely associated with the Surrealist movement and created such iconic pieces as the "Tear" dress, the "Shoe" hat, and the "Bug" necklace. Prada, who holds a degree in political science, took over her family's Milan-based business in 1978, and focuses on fashion that reflects the eclectic nature of Postmodernism.
