The exhibition Fibbie! Moda, Arte e Gioiello is on stage at Palazzo Morando in Milan until the 15th of September. It has been made possible thank to Comune of Milan, in partnership with Accademia delle Belle Arti of Brera, and it has been curated by Bianca Cappello and Luca Ghirardosi.
This is an incredible opportunity to see in depth and details buckles’ history through centuries, starting from the eighteen century until today. Precious and symbolic detail, buckle always has a central role in fashion: it is the meeting point between useful accessorie and jewel, used to complete every look, and it is still protagonist nowadays, especially with the come back of logo-mania. Today every fashion victim would like to own a double G buckle by Gucci, or a charming H by Hermès.
Speaking about buckles we not only refer to belt, but also to hats and shoes. During the XVIII and XIX centuries these were status symbols.
Eighteen and Nineteen Century buckles’ selection come from Enrico and Paola Pennasilico’s priviate collection: there are some very valuable pieces, among others, by Fabergé, Piel Frères and William B. Kerr.
XX Century collection is, on the other hand, from Palazzo Morando itself. The focus is on Italian artists like Giuliano Fratti, also known as “king of crazy jewels”. Together with his art pieces we can find some buckles from craftsman in the Milan’s hinterland, such as Viganò, Ottavio Re and De Liguoro.
The exhibition goes on with the contemporary selection, curated by fashion journalist Maristella Campi. This part is mainly on the Italian production as well, presenting some fashion houses that made buckles central in the contemporary fashion landscape: Paola Bonacina, Giancarlo Petriglia and Daniele Amato, they all look at the future of this very basic and extremely precious style supplement.
Enterely futuristic and avant guard is the Visione del Futuro section. Here we can se prototypes realized by Accademia di Belle Arti of Brera’s students during the last academic year and the Splendide Fibbie workshop.
The Art section is different from the others and presented Marco Marinacci’s collection. He is the owner of artistic creations by Fondarte, historical foundry close to Bologna, which used to make gorgeous buckles during the 60s. Some of them are created by well know artists Giorgio de Chirico and Salvador Dalì.
The exhibition is and incredible opportunity to follow the story of the buckle, from a fresh point of view. It also helps us to think about the importance of such a basic accessorie and its cultural relevance.
Words by Giulia Greco