NYC: The Metropolitan Museum Of Art - Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations exhibition. The Met's Spring 2012 Costume Institute
exhibition, Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, until
August 19, 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.
The Metropolitan Museum Of Art - Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations exhibition. The exhibition showcases approximately
one hundred designs and forty 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 are very cleverly 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."
Above.
A stolen image (as you know NO photography) of the Hard Chic theme
section; Schiaparelli 1938-39 – Prada 1994-95.
The
Metropolitan Museum Of Art - Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations
exhibition. 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.