Prada Delights in Milan

January 9, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

When in Milan, Prada, the word, the universe, takes a whole another dimension. It’s not just Miuccia Prada’s sophisticated, multi-faceted fashion, but also art. And sweets. Here you can choose between various Prada delights. Maybe the embellished red heels available at the label’s oldest flagship in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II? Or the delicious donuts filled with vanilla cream… or the pastel-pink marzipan cake from the brand-owned Marchesi 1824 patisserie on Via Monte Napoleone? Hard to resist any of that.

Prada / Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II 63-65

Marchesi 1824 / Via Monte Napoleon 9

All photos by Edward Kanarecki.

Fondazione Prada, Love You.

January 6, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

Hello in 2020! Just returned from the holidays and I really can’t wait to share with you all the places I’ve visited. Plus, the men’s fashion month has started in London, so be prepared for lots of newness in the first days of the decade! Which, by the way, took off with far too many sad events globally… this might be absolutely out of context, but if you mind and can, please donate a dollar or two (or more!) here to help Australia’s wildlife that’s suffering due to the hazardous fires. Or choose any other Australia-focused organisation (like Salvation Army and Red Cross) that will help the ones in need. It’s really time to take action (one of my New Year’s resolutions, by the way).

Back to the post’s topic. For the starter, Fondazione Prada in Milan. It was my second time here, and I love this place as much as I did a few years ago (here‘s a post from 2015 feauturing the pernament exhibition). The creator of Fondazione is, as the name suggests, Miuccia Prada, whose love for art is as strong as for fashion. Designed by Rem Koolhaas, the museum is built on the grounds of a former distillery. Throughout the time it expanded (the newest addition is the “Torre” – keep reading for more) and well rooted into Milan’s art landscape. The biggest reason behind visiting Fondazione Prada again – and Milan in general! – was the current exhibition: “Il sarcofago di Spitzmaus e altri tesori” (Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and Other Treasures) conceived by Wes Anderson and Juman Malouf. Organized in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the exhibition features 538 artworks and objects selected by the renowned film director and illustrator-writer from 12 collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum and from 11 departments of the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. Before taking a look at the photos I took there, let me tell you: it was an incredible experience.

The exhibition explores the reasons behind the decision to create a collection and the ways in which it is housed, presented and experienced. Looking back to the past and drawing inspiration on the model of the Wunderkammer, the exhibition challenges traditional museum canons, proposing new relations between the institutions and their collections, and between their professional figures and their public. The choice of exhibited works, based on a non-academic, interdisciplinary approach, not only illustrates Anderson and Malouf’s deep knowledge of the two museums, but also reveals unexpected parallels and resonances between the works included in the project and the creative universes of the two artists.The exhibition narrative is formed by groups of works: from green objects to portraits of children, from miniatures to timepieces, from boxes to wooden objects, from portraits of noblemen and common people to natural subjects like the garden as well as meteorites and animals presented as scientific exhibits or artistic depictions.

“Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and Other Treasures” was presented at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna from November 2018 to April 2019. The Milan exhibition is a second version with a larger display area and a greater number of exhibits. The original layout of rooms and vitrines, conceived by the two artist-curators with Itai Margula as a treasure chest, has been transported to the exhibition space of Fondazione Prada as a ready-made. The exhibition extends across the ground floor of the Podium to create a setting inspired by the Italian garden, with the presence of elements evoking hedges and allegorical pavilions typical of Renaissance garden. On view until the 13th of January!

Now, time for the rest of Fondazione Prada…

Bar Luce is probably the only museum cafeteria that sparks so many emotions. The place was conceived by Wes Anderson (those pastel colour combinations are unmistakably him) as “a space for real life with numerous good spots for eating, drinking, talking, reading, etc. While I do think it would make a pretty good movie set, I think it would be an even better place to write a movie. I tried to make it a bar I would want to spend my own non-fictional afternoons in.” Delicious coffee and delightful marzipan cakes from Prada’s Marchesi 1824 patisserie (more on this soon!) are served here everday. Be aware of the lines!

Project Atlas emerged from a dialogue between Miuccia Prada and Germano Celant and is exhibited at the Torre. It hosts works from the Prada Collection displayed in a sequence of environments incorporating solos and confrontations, created through assonances or contrasts, between artists such as Carla Accardi and Jeff Koons, Walter De Maria, Michael Heizer and Pino Pascali, William N. Copley and Damien Hirst, John Baldessari (R.I.P.) and Carsten Höller (the upside down mushroom room!). The group of exhibited artworks, realized between 1960 and 2016, represents a possible mapping of the ideas and visions which have guided the creation of the collection and the collaborations with the artists that have contributed to the activities of the foundation throughout the years. Atlas therefore traces an evolving path between the personal and the institutional, open to temporary and thematic interventions, special projects and events, with possible integrations from other collections and institutions.

Other than Atlas and Podium spaces, Fondazione Prada also holds such venues as Cinema and the gold-plated Haunted Tower. This time, however, we didn’t manage to visit the latter, as there were no more tickets available. It’s the pernament collection of Robert Gober and Louise Bourgeois artworks – which we saw last time. But if you’re planning your trip here, make sure to book the tickets to every Fondazione space on-line or in advance! It’s really, really, really worth it.

Largo Isarco 2 / Milan

All photos by Edward Kanarecki.

Hot. Bottega Veneta Pre-Fall 2020

December 17, 2019 | Design & Culture by Ed

Maybe Daniel Lee‘s winning of nearly every nomination during the recent British Fashion Awards wasn’t such an exaggeration. His pre-fall 2020 collection for Bottega Veneta is so, so, so hot. First, he let colour in. The splashes of cobalt blue, rubber pink and sun-drenched ochre is a combination that will inject vibrance to your autumn wardrobe on a daily basis. Then, all the leather. Lee proves once again his respect for Bottega Veneta as a leather house, creating wonders. The signature intrecciato weaving goes XXL in coats and bags, the shoes get fun bubble quilts and the polished, over-sized pants have an amazing, butter-y texture. Also, something has shifted in Daniel’s ready-to-wear. Comparing to his last autumn-winter season, this one feels very sensual and body-friendly. Just take a look at the knitted dresses and tops with ankle-lenght fringes or the fluid-like sequinned eveningwear. Not speaking of the tailoring, which gets more and more refined with every season. And Bottega denim? A big yes.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Clothed Bodies. Gucci Pre-Fall 2020

December 14, 2019 | Design & Culture by Ed

Alessandro Michele‘s pre-fall 2020 collection for Gucci is the post scriptum of his vision he staged back in September. “It tells the same story about proportion, silhouette, and, above all, the balance between shape and color,” he summed up. Balancing contrasting bearers of meaning in the same outfit has always been a Michele’s skill. He simplified his looks – cleaning it up (aesthetically) definitely works for Alessandro lately. Shapes had clarity, with hints to the elegance of the 1960s (trapeze dresses in solid colors or in black with cutout décolletage; short capes calling to mind Pierre Cardin’s futuristism; bold floral ensembles with boxy-cut little jackets) and to the free-spirited bohemia of the 1970s (gorgeous kaftans in every possible length; flowing feminine chemisier dresses; floor-grazing linen tunics with contrasting macramé appliqués or geometric motifs). Decoration and embellishments, although reduced, were still idiosyncratic and full of appeal. Michele’s knack for cultivated quirk crept up also in his punctuation of lingerie as a subtly sexual message – a theme he introduced in the September show. Logoed brassieres and underwire bras peeked from underneath blouses or crisscrossed open tops, worn under leather blazers.

The lookbook was shot in Rome through the lens of Bruce Gilden. The cast of characters was as diverse as can be, including model and advocate Bethann Hardison and fashion legend Benedetta Barzini, both fabulous in their age-defying charisma and presence. “At the core [of the collection] remains the relationship between clothing and its wearer, and everything that revolves around these ‘clothed bodies,’” explained Michele. “The set and the photography not only emphasize the look but also the characters, providing a viewpoint to delve into the relationship between empty and full spaces, between clothed bodies and the space around them—and therefore between where we are and what is happening.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Fluidity. Jil Sander Pre-Fall 2020

December 5, 2019 | Design & Culture by Ed

Lucie and Luke Meier‘s vision for Jil Sander is all about soft, tactile minimalism (which occasionally lets some eclecticism in). For pre-fall 2020, the duo once again showed their appreciation for craft. A skirt suit was padded and stitched with an abstract floral motif, while an ensemble in soft pink satin had a luscious, almost liquid finish. Fluidity of the silhouette is a big topic for the Meiers – they continue to master it, creating refined, feminine, yet magically comfortable forms. Please do note the feminine lines of the décolletages, borrowed from corsetry and delicately lined with inconspicuous embroideries (see the high-waisted ruched slipdress). Art references are also crucial in their vision for Jil Sander. Recently, the designers have been fascinated by the Viennese Secession movement, extensively researching the work of Wiener Werkstätte’s artists like Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, and the textile designer Maria Lucia Stadlmayer. Their aesthetics, which flourished at the juncture of Art Nouveau’s sensuality and Japonisme’s sophisticated restraint, clearly appealed to the Meiers. For pre-fall, Stadlmayer’s graphic patterns were reproduced in their original proportions and colors on sheer organza layers, juxtaposed over sharp-cut silk twill or silk jersey shirts, skirts, and tunics, inducing a slightly kinetic, blurred chromatic effect. “We used the motifs on their authentic scale, because you have permission from the archives in Vienna to reproduce them only in the exact proportions and colors she intended to use,” they said. “We really cared about keeping the integrity of the design; we didn’t want to appropriate them in the wrong way.”