Fashion fans who love exhibitions of extravagant and dreamy gowns, will surely remember "A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes, Fashion and Chess", organized a couple of years ago at the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Missouri. The event - curated by Sofia Hedman and Serge Martynov - celebrated the transformative powers of the queen in the chess game through nine different sections.
The various sections hinted at the maximum number of queens a player can have on a chessboard and were inspired by Carl Jung's archetypes, each of them referred to a different historical queen - The Sage (Christina of Sweden), Mother Figure (Queen Victoria), Enchantress (Marie Antoinette), Magician (Elizabeth I), Explorer (Isabella I of Castille), Ruler (Catherine II of Russia), Heroine (Wilhelmina of The Netherlands), Mother Earth (Maria Theresa of Austria), and Thespian (Lovisa Ulrika, Queen of Sweden).
The event is back at the moment in a sort of updated version, entitled this time "A Queen Within - Adorned Archetypes", and launched as a Pop Up exhibition during Art Basel Miami (at 2215 NW 2nd Avenue, Wynwood, Miami, until 5th December 2016).
The Miami event has been rethought as an overview of the original museum show: the aspect of female archetypes has been emphasized and combined with a study looking at dress and political activism via figures from American history such as Rachel Carson and Rosa Parks, exceptional women who exemplify certain archetypal qualities or who left their mark on history. All the themes and archetypes are explored through artworks, objects, garments or photographs.
Some designers have been featured once again, among them Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan and Iris Van Herpen, others have been added.
"The Mother Earth – Sustainability" archetype is for example represented by Vivienne Westwood Gold Label's "Mirror the World" (S/S 2016) collection, featuring designs created to prompt people to consider the effects of climate change. Gypsy Sport's red ensemble from the S/S 2017 collection that focused on globalism, open borders and inclusivity, is instead en emblem for the "Mother – Civil Rights" section, that also boasts one of the most touching and provocative contributions, Pyer Moss's "Ota, Meet Saartjie" (S/S 2016) boots, the result of a collaboration with Gregory Siff and a reflection on the current times.
The collection was inspired by Ota Benga, the Congolese man who was featured in an anthropology expo in St Louis in 1904 and in a human zoo exhibit at the Bronx Zoo in 1906, and by Saartjie Baartman, an African woman who became a freak show attraction in 19th century Europe under the name "Hottentot Venus". Moss's designs tackle inequality, racism, police brutality, the Black Lives Matter movement, violence, and mass incarceration.
"The Sage" section has been enriched with innovative projects such as Muskin, a breathable, pliable and naturally water-repellent material made from mushroom skin that could be used as a 100% vegetable eco-alternative to animal leather; and THINX's underwear, anti-microbial, absorbent, and leak-resistant pants that can back up or replace tampons, pads and cups. For every pair of underwear sold, 10% of proceeds are donated to AFRIpads to help girls and women in Uganda.
The dichotomy between the human and the technological worlds has inspired a new section – "Creator - New Bodies", with explorations such as Minna Palmqvist's bulbous or deconstructed mannequin busts, Maja Gunn's male silicone chests or 69's S/S 2017 runway presentation, modeled by celebrity impersonators.
Shamees Aden's "Amoeba Trainer" (2012) reunites this dichotomy in a very convincing way: it consists in a 3D printed trainer that fits like a second skin and is made to the exact size of the user's foot using synthetic biological material, so that the body becomes a part of the productive process. The protocell material reacts to pressure and movement created when running, puffing up to provide extra cushioning where required. After use, the trainers can be placed in a jar filled with protocell liquid and can repair themselves overnight.
"Rebel" is also another new section analyzing two key issues, globalism and worker's rights via projects such as Slow Factory's "We Are Home" (2016) collection and Carcel's Blue Alpaca sweater.
The former consists in a collection inspired by the mental shift that happens to astronauts when in space, and it is aimed at raising awareness about the fact that we are all just passengers on planet Earth.
Slow Factory's founder and designer Céline Semaan Vernon created it in collaboration with the MIT media lab, hoping to shift the attention towards the current refugee crisis while developing at the same time new materials, working with a transparency model for the fashion industry.
For the S/S 2016 collection the fashion activism studio is partnering with ANERA and UNICEF to donate 10% of proceeds to support the humanitarian crisis and to help refugees.
Danish Fashion label Carcel launched a Kickstarter campaign to start producing alpaca knitwear handmade by the women at a prison in Cusco, Peru. In this way the women receive a wage that allows them to cover their basic living costs in prison, send their children to school and save up money for a crime free beginning. Carcel's next collection will be made from 100% organic silk, and will be manufactured in prisons in India.
It is interesting to see that the original dreamy aspects of this exhibition seem to have been replaced by themes that try to tie fashion with social issues or with the power of technology, and the original "queen" in the exhibition title has turned from unpredictable piece in the game of chess, into a new force ready to redefine not just the glamorous rules of the fashion game, but the unfair rules of the world.
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