I had promised myself not to mention Elsa Schiaparelli until next year (after all, there are just a few weeks till the end of 2008…), but she kept on coming back to my mind since I heard about a very special project that has been recently launched involving Salvador Dali. I have come to the conclusion that, since this blog is supposed to be (among the other things…) about art and fashion, the umpteenth mention of Schiaparelli won’t hurt me.
So, here’s what the project is about: to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Salvador Dali’s death, twelve designers have made some extraordinary creations inspired by the surrealist artist. The project involved Julien Macdonald, Graeme Black, Steve J and Yoni P, Stewart Parvin, Maria Grachvogel, Bora Aksu, Manish Arora, Modernist, Vivia Ferragamo, Anouska Hempel, Allegra Hicks and Lynn Mackie.
There are echoes of Schiaparelli in the skeleton prints reinvented by Maria Grachvogel who applied it to a sort of naturalist theme and in the horsehair trimmed dress and hat by Modernist (think about Schiap’s surrealist monkey fur boots), but it was Dali’s most famous works, such as the painting “The Persistence of Memory” with its famous melting clocks, that truly fascinated the designers. While Julien Macdonald was won over by Dali's darkest atmospheres, Manish Arora revolutionised the eye theme and reinvented it through his trademark beaded embroideries.
One of the best creations is Steve J and Yoni P's: the design duo took the colourful molecular structures of the painting "Butterfly Landscape", transformed them into tennis balls and used them to fill up the skirt of a dress. The colour, fabric and origami-like motifs of the dress also call to mind the duo's Spring/Summer 09 collection that features garments with multiple pleats and fold and surrealist butterfly and tennis ball-shaped headdresses.
The exclusive designs will be auctioned tomorrow and the proceeds will go to the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign. A selection of designs will be on display from 1st December at The Dali Universe, the permanent Salvador Dali exhibition at County Hall Gallery, on London's Southbank, a labyrinth-like gallery that offers the visitor the chance of admiring more than 500 works of art, including the largest collection of Dali sculptures dating from 1935-1984, his drawings, lithographs, gold and glass objects and a Dali-inspired furniture collection.
Try not to miss seeing the designs that will be exhibited at The Dali Universe as they will definitely manage to transport you into a marvellous world of surreal wonders.
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