Exhibition project - ANIMALIA FASHION - Firenze - Gallerie degli Uffizi - Costume and Fashion Museum - Jannuary 8th – May 5th 2019 - Curated by Patricia Lurati
The exhibition explores the impact of the animal kingdom on contemporary fashion. Featuring approximately 70 haute couture and ready-to-wear women’s outfits, 30 pairs of shoes, 20 accessories and 20 jewels the exhibition illustrate the enchanting reflections of animal imagery in contemporary fashion.
Situating creations within the broader context of the long-enduring interest in animals, a thoughtful selection of gowns, shoes, accessories and jewels realized by world famous designers and jewelers – from 2000 to the present – displays the crucial role of animals in the creative fashion process, by explicit depiction or allusions, or the mental associations that shapes, textures and colors can raise in the viewer.
To reveal these various connections to the animal kingdom, pages from Medieval bestiaries, early paintings, and Renaissance artifacts as well as real animals – stuffed or preserved in formaldehyde – are presented beside the latest designer clothes and jewels. Divided into sections devoted to species, the exhibition shows on one hand the impelling influence of animal species on jewelry and fashion designers’ in creating some of the most innovative and impressive creations. On the other hand, it addresses a subliminal world, one in which one identifies unintentional connections to the animal kingdom.
Focusing on an unconventional idea of beauty, the exhibition aims to visually engage the imagination, fantasy, and the mental associations raised by fabulous, sometimes even bizarre or surreal creations. The display argues for the transformative power of fashion in the perception of some species and, consequently, for fashion’s contribution to the construction of a novel and contemporary animal imagery.
A publication with a rich set of images and interdisciplinary texts focused on the historical, social and cultural meanings attributed to the animal kingdom accompanies the exhibition.
