Distinguished art dealer and art historian Claudia Gian Ferrari (Milan 1945–2010) bequeathed her wardrobe, including over one hundred clothes by Japanese designer Issey Miyake to the Museum of Costume and Fashion in Milan. I was invited to curate the first exhibition of this collection and decided to present a selection of these dresses with some creations of my students of the Master in Fashion & Textile at NABA, Nuova Academia di Belle Arti in Milan. At the beginning of her professional career, I worked as an assistant to Ms. Gian Ferrari in her contemporary art gallery in Via Brera in Milan. I am quite sure that as a patroness of the arts and young talents, as well as a fashion lover, Claudia would have enjoyed ‘to have a conversation’ and mingle herself among these young talented fashion designers.
Conversation Piece
The Claudia Gian Ferrari Fashion Collection alongside
Projects by NABA Students
June 25 — September 28, 2014
Palazzo Morando, Museo Costume Moda Immagine, Milano
From left: Arturo Martini, Girl with a Sparrow, bronze, 1922-23; mustard dress and chocolate brown caban, Pleats Please Issey Miyake, 1990s; wooden mannequin, ca. 1800
Installation view
Conversation Piece, Palazzo Morando, Milan
From left: sculpture dress by Issey Miyake, 1994; digital print dress by Michele Ferrari, 2014; collages by Mengqui Fu, 2014
Installation view
Conversation Piece, Palazzo Morando, Milan
From left: Digital printed jacket, Pleats Please Issey Miyake, 1990s; hat with applied small plastic toys by Simone Liscio, 2014
Installation view
Conversation Piece, Palazzo Morando, Milan
Wooden shoe by Michele Ferrari, 2014
Installation view
Conversation Piece, Palazzo Morando, Milan
Mengqui Fu, digital-printed neoprene dress and silicone jacket, 2014
Conversation Piece, Palazzo Morando, Milan
Black dresses, Pleats Please Issey Miyake, 1990s
Installation view
Conversation Piece, Palazzo Morando, Milan
From left: Headpiece by Gai Di, 2013 (digital print); Black dress, Pleats Please Issey Miyake, 1990s (detail)
Installation view
Conversation Piece, Palazzo Morando, Milan
Entrance to the exhibition Conversation Piece, Palazzo Morando, Milan
On the right: Daniela Duino, viscose and hemp dress with applications and beret with applications, 2014
