Fondazione Prada

October 17, 2015January 7, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

“Haunted Tower”

Fondazione Prada is Milan’s most exciting place, where curated art meets architecture and its past. The creator of Fondazione Prada is, as the name might suggest, Miuccia Prada, whose love to art is as strong as to fashion. This is not an average, contemporary art museum – Fondazione fuses visual appreciation with intellectual pleasure – everything that happens here, from silent dance performances to temporary exhibitions, feels bonded together. The “Haunted House” covered with gold and the whole Fondazione Prada site is part of a former distillery complex dating back to the 1910s.

Without transforming the original volumes, the architecture project has preserved and enhanced the building by reinforcing the structure and gilding its external surface. As stated by Rem Koolhaas, the architect behind the museum, “Fondazione is not a preservation project and not a new architecture. Two conditions that are usually kept separate here confront each other in a state of permanent interaction–offering an ensemble of fragments that will not congeal into a single image, or allow any part to dominate the others. New, old, horizontal, vertical, wide, narrow, white, black, open, enclosed–all these contrasts establish the range of oppositions that define the new Fondazione. By introducing so many spatial variables, the complexity of the architecture will promote an unstable, open programming, where art and architecture will benefit from each other’s challenges”. Permanently, Fondazione Prada exhibits Louis Bourgeois‘s metaphysical installations, Robert Gober‘s eerie and surreal artworks. As part of the temporary exhibition, it’s essential to see Damien Hirst‘s “Trittico“, which literally presents a gynecologist chair immersed in a huge, fish-filled aquarium.

After few hours of discovering and learning about Fondazione Prada’s treasures, it’s a great idea to have cup of coffee at Bar Luce, which was designed by Wes Anderson, the famous director of “The Grand Budapest Hotel” – the pastel green wallpapers and delicious, marmalade cupcakes certainly give the caffè a status of the best museum cafeteria in the world. If you are planning a visit to Milan, then don’t even try to miss Fondazione Prada on your go-to list!

Via Largo Isarco 2 / Milan

First Dibs – Paula Cademartori SS16 Accessories

October 12, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Who doesn’t know Paula Cademartori, needs to quickly look her up and keep on the fashion radar! The success of Paula Cademartori‘s accessory line is based on an aesthetic vision focused on intense care for details, combined with the determination to carry out production in Italy. Each bag is conceived as a design object to own and love. The precious seal of each model is a metal buckle, personally designed by Paula supported by her background in jewellery and industrial design. Her new SS16 collection that was presented in Milan a few weeks ago tells one, major thing – fringes and colours will storm the streets next summer… in both, handbags and shoes!

Simple, Simple. Jil Sander SS16

October 1, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Rodolfo Paglialunga and Jil Sander is still an unclear match for me. Jil Sander’s strict minimalism is missed since the debutant collection, while the designer’s signature is not entirely visible. Spring-summer 2016 was light and soft – the statement hats stole Instagram’s spotlight for few minutes after the show. But the collection was absolutely not amusing. It did not last in my mind for long. Beige coats, white pajama looks, black blazers and midi-skirts – really, no excitement at all.

Subverting Reality. Prada SS16

September 29, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Miuccia Prada‘s subverted reality can be felt in the most “realistic” way at Fondazione Prada (soon, a post coming up on it!). This place serves as a museum of modern art and has a quaint, strongly elusive and a highly reflective aura around it. The complex of former-industrial factory exhibits the installations and paintings, and just like the SS16 fashion show venue, it’s all about raw concrete. And this minimal background is the best for a viewer to experience art. And fashion, as in case of Prada‘s latest collection. This collection was all about the eccentric side of Miuccia – disco ball earrings and Cuban heels; snake-skin coats in pastel green; gold lips by Pat McGrath. Also, it fused different decades – 40’s masculinity (the jackets), 60’s geometric patterns and 80’s modernism represented in silhouettes of the skirts. Although the collection was pretty built-up with layers and various textures, there was a place for more exposing and daring pieces. Take the bathrobe coats made out of transparent organza or net-like necklaces that delicately showed some flesh. This collection is deeply rooted in Prada’s signatures and it changes the classical wardrobe of the brand’s customer.

Massimo’s Revamp. Emilio Pucci SS16

September 28, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Massimo Giorgetti is the creator of Milan’s most flat and, shockingly, playful brand – MSGM is the label that made Milan Fashion Week much more youthful place to come to. MSGM is also the commercial best-seller – so why not make its designer the new creative director of Emilio Pucci, an Italian house with a strong heritage and signature? Peter Dundas, the former designer of the house, moved to Roberto Cavalli (a perfect match – over-sexualised cocktail dresses at the most opulent brand I know) and now it is the time for a revamp. The “zero” collection for Resort 2016 was promising – the clothes were interesting and the codes of the house became more edgy. But what about the real, runway debut? Well, it is good. But just good. And that’s a pity because the anticipation was big. The sailor motive was reflected in various shades of blue and masculine silhouettes; the embroideries of fish and sea-shells did look precious. But it feels a bit like Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe, Nicolas Ghesquiere’s Louis Vuitton and Alessandro Dell AcQua’s No21. Modern, innovative and romantic at the same time. Even the accessories, which caught my eye instantly, didn’t help. Hopefully next season will be more clear for Massimo’s attitude towards Pucci. Now, it looks like an expensive, luxurious version of MSGM.