minima home: Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations

Monday, May 7, 2012

Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations

I may not have been invited to the Met Gala but I was able to attend the press preview for the Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since Elsa Schiaparelli died in 1973, she and Miuccia Prada did not actually meet. The exhibit explores the idea of them having that "impossible conversation" and the similarities between their fashions. Baz Luhrmann directed actress Judy Davis as she channeled Elsa Schiaparelli in the videos that play along the walls of the show that runs through August 19, 2012.

“Given the role Surrealism and other art movements play in the designs of both Schiaparelli and Prada, it seems only fitting that their inventive creations be explored here at the Met,” said Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Schiaparelli’s collaborations with Dalí and Cocteau as well as Prada’s Fondazione Prada push art and fashion ever closer, in a direct, synergistic, and culturally redefining relationship.”

The opening gallery of Waist Up/Waist Down is an interesting look at why women in Schiaparelli's era needed interesting jackets for sitting down in cafes while Miuccia Prada designed beautiful skirts for the woman on the go. Another difference was the hat that was important before and shoes that we all know are the way to a woman's heart in this day and age. While there aren't any shoes for sale in the gift shop, there are a few bags. There were also a lot on the thin arms of those in attendance this morning and many Prada dresses on the ladies at the Met Gala tonight. But that's another conversation.