INTRO EXHIBITION
A brief introduction
A brief introduction before entering the gallery to discover our third exhibition titled “Fashionlands - Clothes Beyond Borders,” curated by art historian Olivier Saillard and philosopher Emanuele Coccia. First, let’s watch the interview with one of the curators, Olivier Saillard, as he discusses the curatorial journey of the installation.
We’ve previously collaborated with both Olivier Saillard and Emanuele Coccia in our earlier exhibition “The Many Lives of a Garment”. Olivier also curated our first exhibition in 2023, titled “The First Exhibition - 20 Years of Contemporary Fashion Evolution.”
THE CURATORS
Olivier Saillard is an art historian and one of the world’s leading fashion curators. He is the director of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation and was formerly the director of the Palais Galliera, the fashion museum in Paris. Through his exhibitions, which sometimes take on the form of performances, he redefines the museum experience, offering a new perspective on design and bridging the gap between fashion and performance art.
Emanuele Coccia is a philosopher and author of influential books such as Life of Plants (2018) and Metamorphosis (2021). In 2024, he co-wrote a book on the relationship between fashion and philosophy with Valentino’s creative director Alessandro Michele (The Life of Forms. Philosophy of Re-enchantment, 2024), and a philosophical correspondence on light with photographer Paolo Roversi (Lettres sur la lumière, 2024).
FASHIONLANDS - CLOTHES BEYOND BORDERS
A famous quote by Oscar Wilde states, “Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear.” With Fashionlands - Clothes Beyond Borders, we will discover that the kingdom of fashion has uncertain, blurred and vulnerable boundaries. Yet fashion remains sovereign, even though its colours and shapes change every six months according to the whims of designers and creators.
This exhibition also explores fashion as an object of fascination—extraordinary garments worn as emblems by a select few, privileged clients or industry experts, before they are adopted by everyone. Yet, shortly thereafter, they are met with indifference, their presence ignored when, just moments before, they were objects of desire. Already out of fashion, they follow an eternal cycle of birth and decline.
In contrast, there is the seemingly ordinary garment, an island of resistance: neutral and versatile clothing worn daily, by all. This humble attire, with its unchanging geography of dress, has remained the same for decades, in some cases for over a century. Could it be that, ignoring the influence of fashion and newness, it is the ordinary that actually dictates the true rules of style?
Among the imaginative creations of young talents displayed in the exhibition, and the photographic and factual inventory of everyday clothing, we invite you to redefine your understanding of a discipline—fashion—that is constantly on the move.
Entering the exhibition, the left side of the Gallery showcases pieces from the ITS Arcademy Collection, celebrating 20 years of creativity and invention by young talents who have gone on to build important careers in the fashion world. 23 designers who have participated in ITS Contest have created works of art born from their creative utopias. The contours and forms of their creations embrace extraordinary boundaries, redefining types of clothing, from the classic to the fantastical.
Facing the extraordinary, on the right wall of the Gallery, 19 photographs by Gabriele Rosati introduce another type of boundary: the reality of everyday clothing, which has withstood the ebb and flow of fashion for decades. Garments like t-shirts, blue jeans, white shirts, and black suits are timeless essentials in contemporary wardrobes. Urban and, in some cases, almost unchanged for a century, they trace a different, minimalist yet pervasive geography of fashion. Through these images, Gabriele Rosati constructs a modern archaeology of style.
Let’s enter through the corridor and head immediately to the right, where we’ll find the next audioguide QR code.