I visited the MET to see the Schiaparelli and Prada “Impossible Conversations” exhibition and was curious to find which, if any, of these exhibited pieces had turned up at INA since the exhibition’s opening. A re-enacted video conversation between Miuccia Prada and Elsa Schiaparelli structures the categories of the exhibition, as if Schiaparelli was alive and could speak to Miuccia in a private dining room, and that the conversation was a casual one eavesdropped upon by us.
Schiap designed decorative pieces for women during “café society,” as she called it, when women sat at cafes, their top-halves visible, their bottom-halves under the table.
Above: Crustacean Schiaparelli clip-on earrings, INA Soho
In the spirit of things, I wandered around, listening to off-handed conversations held in the museum amidst the displays, room to room. Schiaparelli’s emphasis on decoration led her to embroider the cuffs and collars of jackets with as much detail as her hats of red celluloid grapes and metal leaf chokers.
Above: Silk fuchsia dress embroidered with a sequin croquet set, by Chloe under the direction of Karl Lagerfeld during the 1980s, who most likely found inspiration in Schiaparelli's thematic embroidery. Refer to Schiap's pink blazer woven with circus horses in metallic threads and closed by acrobat buttons, in "Naif Chic".
In front of me on display in the “Naif Chic” section of the exhibition, Prada’s gray and black striped cotton canvas skirts with Baroque scrolls and pineapples are paired with banana-printed button-down shirts.
A woman exclaims, “This is just awful! What was Prada thinking? I mean, bananas?”
She looks around noticing that others have heard her. “Sorry,” she says.
Her friend objects, “I would love to wear bananas, if only I could!”
A young girl stares at Prada’s grey silk duchesse satin shorts printed with palm trees, and then in her own world, but aloud, says, “I am strangely drawn to these shorts.”
This Venetian printed canvas tote also has a mind for tourism, from Prada’s 2004 Spring/ Summer collection, INA Soho
Further down, in the “Surrealist Body” corridor, I encounter a black silk satin dress embroidered with pressed metal bottle tops. The lady beside me says, to her friend, "Well, I don't think they're bottle caps."
“It says here on the label, that, the material was inspired by recycled materials used in Africa.”
“I’m on the fence about the material’s origins.”
“And are you on the fence about the dress?”
“I'd say we're on the fence.”
“It's pretty interesting anyway. Different. Let’s say different.”
A man and a woman look intently at trompe l'oeil pleats. “The fabric is flat, I say flat,” the lady repeats to her elderly husband.
“I see pleats all round,” says the man.
“No! There are no pleats in this skirt. Pleats have been printed onto the fabric of the skirt. This skirt, I tell you, has the appearance of having pleats.”
In “Waist Up/ Waist Down”, one man talks to another, “The color of the velvet jacket, is it forest green?”
“Hard to tell.”
The men compliment the collars of Schiaparelli’s many jackets, and the women can’t stop looking at the chandelier mules.
Above: Prada chandelier mule, clear crystal with acrylic heel, INA Nolita
This is a really well wiettrn piece! I agree with you Ian in that fashion unfairly advocates for and encourages the teenager trend. While I myself have a boyish figure (I admit it openly haha), the size zero myth still makes me insecure at times and have negative personal perception issues. Although the choice of Steinfeld further encourages this trend, I still applaud Miuccia Prada and Miu Miu for choosing her as the face of the line. Compared to the usual starlet line ambassadors such Lohan for Miu Miu and Blake Lively for Chanel, Hailee is a less commercially viable choice, considering she has only done one film. While I have no doubt she will have a blossoming career, newcomer Steinfeld is an elegant, graceful young woman, and choosing her for her personal merits and poise sets a positive example for teenage girls. You don’t have to go to court (Lohan) or star in a salacious TV drama (Lively) to have a Cinderella moment.
Schiaparelli is iconic. Prada makes hagnabds. Pairing two women who happen to be from the same country is idiotic and sadly predictable in today’sfashion environment total lack of imagination. The 70s styles’ did not look that great then; they are even less appealing now. The last real sense of style and vision was seen in the early to mid-60s. Recycling is boring.