Animalia Fashion: The indissoluble link between fashion and nature

"Fashion as a monkey of nature”.

A journey of art and creativity, discovering a fantasy world in which high fashion and nature reign.

Dedicated to the creations of contemporary Haute Couture inspired by nature, from 8

January to 5 May 2019 it will be possible to visit the exhibition "Animalia Fashion"

inside the Museum of Fashion and Costume of Palazzo Pitti conceived as a Natural

History Museum thanks to the installations cured in the smallest details, as stated by

the curator and creator Patricia Lurati: “In an exciting dialogue with this zoo of

fabrics, feathers, hides - and not only- the visitor is surprised, involved in the

discovery of Wonders of the animal world, that for designers become a source of

inspiration, or that creates unexpected combinations in the imagination of the

spectator”.

Fashion and art have always been an unbreakable and constantly evolving binomial.

One takes inspiration from the other and their union is much firmer than one might

think. After the unforgettable creations of Elsa Schiaparelli in the ' 30s and the iconic

mini bag in a duck shape signed by Judith Leiber and worn by Carrie Bradshaw in an

episode of the famous series "Sex and the City", even today there are numerous

fashion houses that are Inspired by the colors and shapes of animals.

When the fascinating animal world inspires the fashion system.

“In this roundup of almost a hundred pieces between clothes, bags, shoes, jewels and

accessories, Haute couture interprets a fabulous universe, where dummies become

creatures of a modern and poetic bestiary. It is also a tribute to the artistic and

technical qualities of contemporary fashion, an area to which the fashion and

Costume Museum of Palazzo Pitti is dedicating new energies and attention”, said the

director of the Uffizi Eike Schmidt.

The protagonists are not only the clothes and accessories but also the numerous

animals contained in the special showcases from the Natural History Museum La

Specola, the drawings taken from ancient bestiaries and the pages of medieval

Tacuinas Sanitatis borrowed from the Anthropology and Ethnography Museum.

Inside the 18 halls it will be possible to admire spiders, swans, shells, fishes, snakes,

insects and parrots together with the clothes from France, China, Russia and Italy,

created by the designers who were inspired by the beauty of the animal world and

arranged in such a way to recreate a real exhibition path, born with the aim of

bringing to light the strong link between nature and Haute Couture dresses with a

contemporary style.

Not by chance, these are creations made in the last 18 years, from 2000 to 2018, from

emerging designers and renowned fashion maisons including Roberto Cavalli and his

iconic animalier print, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Maison Margiela, Dior, Jean Paul

Gaultier, Chanel, Valentino, Azzedine Alaia and Iris van Herpen.

Art, fashion and nature continue to merge together but, on this occasion, fashion is

the one being inspired by nature.