There's no better way to end the year than watching a film that can inspire, move us or simply put us in the proper mood to face the challenges ahead in a more positive way.
The film takes place during the Christmas holidays, when Mary Marshall (Ginger Rogers) and Sgt. Zachary Morgan (Joseph Cotten) meet on a train for Pine Hill.
Zach is a victim of shell shock and is on a ten-day leave from a military hospital; Mary, convicted for the involuntary manslaughter of her boss who had tried to rape her (a story that is definitely not unheard of even in our times...), has just been given an eight-day furlough from prison to spend the Christmas holidays with her aunt Sarah (Spring Byington), uncle Henry (Tom Tully) and cousin Barbara (Shirley Temple).
On the train they both lie to each other: Zach tells Mary he is going to visit his sister; Mary explains Zach she is a travelling saleslady on her way to spend the holidays with her family.
Before going their ways, they exchange names, and Zach phones to Mary who invites him to dinner. The days that follow are both fun and problematic as the two go out together, but Zach seems to have relapses and asks Mary to help him regaining confidence in himself.
As the days pass Zach invites the Marshall family to the New Year's Eve party at the YMCA, but the joys of the party are marred by involuntary revelations made the following day and by lots of tears. Things get sorted at the very end of the story when Mary will find an unexpected surprise at the gates of the prison.
There is a fashion moment in the film, that features costumes by Edith Head: throughout the film Ginger Rogers wears rather practical suits and coats with a classic '40s silhouette (see the ample and squarish shoulders).
But, as the family prepares to go to the New Year's Eve Party, Sarah goes shopping with her daughter and niece to a department store. Barbara picks for herself a gown with a fitted sequinned bodice and a tulle skirt, but then Sarah suggests her niece to try on a dress that they see in the shop.
The black tulle gown with short puffed sleeves decorated with four sequinned ribbons looks elegantly feminine, but not too over the top and marks for Mary the end of the year, but a possible new beginning and a hope to readjust to life. Enjoy the film and have a lovely New Year's Eve!
It is a consolidated tradition in journalism to take stock in December and look back upon the personalities that marked the year coming to an end. As usual you get the good and the bad, but then you also get the icons, such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Known for being the senior liberal member of the court, she is a beacon of resistance. In case she were unable to serve, U.S. President Donald Trump could indeed replace her with a conservative and the court would shift to the right, a decision that would have dire consequences on a variety of issues, including abortion and gay rights (since taking office Trump appointed two justices to the court - Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, and the latter was confirmed despite allegations of sexual misconduct).
Ginsburg appeared this year in the documentary "RBG" directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, while the early years of her career as a law professor and then with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are recounted in the film "On the Basis of Sex", directed by Mimi Leder and starring Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader and Armie Hammer as Marty Ginsburg (with costumes by Isis Mussenden). The documentary and the film are great introductions to Ginsburg's life and achievements.
Born in 1933, Ginsburg went to Cornell University where she met her future husband Martin Ginsburg. She became a mother before starting law school at Harvard where she was one of nine women in a class of 500 men.
These were hard times as Ginsburg was studying, taking care of her daughter Jane, visiting her husband who was in hospital after having been diagnosed with cancer and organising his classmates' notes for him to make sure he didn't miss his own work.
After Marty recovered and got a job as a tax lawyer in New York, Ruth transferred to Columbia University. She graduated as one of the top students, but, since no law firm would hire her because she was a woman, she became a professor at Rutgers Law School, where she taught some of the first women and law classes, co-founding the Women's Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
She started focusing on gender discrimination, and became advocate for the advancement of gender equality and women's rights. The documentary "RBG" is a great way to go through some of these cases as they are presented in an engaging way, often via interviews with the people involved in them.
In Frontiero V Richardson (1973), Ginsburg argued on behalf of a female Air Force lieutenant denied a housing benefit for her husband that her male colleagues received for their wives. She also worked on cases involving men, like Weinberger V Wiesenfeld (1975), involving a young widower who was denied benefits after his wife died in childbirth.
One of her most important cases remains the United States V Virginia (1996) in which she challenged the exclusion of women from the Virginia Military Institute. She won the case and, since then, the institute has been open to women as well.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and, in August 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed her Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
She was the second female justice (after Sandra Day O'Connor) in the Supreme Court (only four women have ever been confirmed to the court - Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, were both appointed by Barack Obama).
Her late husband Marty (he died in 2010) was instrumental in her career since he always supported her choices and also championed her appointment at the Supreme Court.
Ginsburg set an example, showing that you can fight for different causes and can do so quietly, politely, without being arrogant and aggressive (a style sadly favoured by many people in powerful positions nowadays).
Throughout the years Ginsburg has indeed charmed also her opponents: in the "RBG" documentary rightwing senator Orrin Hatch is shown at Ginsburg's confirmation hearings, as he tells her "Frankly, I admire you and you earned the right to be on the supreme court."
She also struck an unlikely friendship with the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia with whom she shared a passion for the opera, despite their different positions on legal grounds.
Though Ginsburg is known for being a reserved and introverted woman, during the 2016 election, she called Donald Trump a "faker" and said she could not imagine a world with him as president. Criticised for her statement that may have undermined her impartiality in the court, she apologised.
Her strength, fights for justice and passion turned her into a beacon of resistance and an inspiration for many people, especially for a younger generation getting to know her only now: young law student Shana Knizhnik created a Tumblr account dedicated to Justice Ginsburg called "Notorious RBG", after the rapper Notorius B.I.G., that Knizhnik and her co-author Irin Carmon then transformed into a book. Ginsburg seems to like the moniker since, as she stated in interviews, she shares with him quite a few things, first and foremost she was born like him in Brooklyn.
Ginsburg is also a fashion icon for her bold sense of style: she favours elegant and sober garments and often matches her outfits with lace or crocheted gloves. She is a feminist, but never gave up her feminine style, symbolised by the collars she wears over her robes.
In "RBG" she explains the genesis of her jabots that have turned into feminist symbols: "The standard robe is made for a man because it has a place for the shirt to show and the tie, so Sandra Day O'Connor thought it would be appropriate if we included in our robe something typical of a woman."
The collars are a statement as they indicate that you don't need to dress like a man to be in this job, you just need to be yourself and be confident.
Ginsburg's favourite collar remains a simple beaded jabot, but in "RBG" she opens her wardrobe and shows many varieties of collars she owns, at times they are also sent to her, like the one she was gifted by the University of Hawaii, made with French lace and decorated with beads from the beach.
She is also known for the special meanings attached to the collars: a collar that was given to her as a gift from the law clerks of court is used to announce majority of opinion, while a black one decorated with large rhinestones is donned to show dissent (she wore it during the Hobby Lobby contraception case; the collar has even been recreated in miniature for necklaces and has been turned into a popular pin). For her official Supreme Court portrait in 2018, Ginsburg opted instead for a striking collar of gold feathers sent to her by a fan.
Ginsburg is so loved among her fans that her health is also a cause of concern: in November, she fell in court and fractured three ribs; before Christmas she underwent surgery after malignant nodules were found in her left lung (she was treated in 1999 for colon cancer and in 2009 for pancreatic cancer).
Yet she seems an indomitable force as proved by her workout routine (also documented in "RBG") and the fact that she has no plans to retire (she has hired clerks for the term that extends into 2020).
So, here's wishing that her superheroine story will continue as long as she has the strength and will to carry on doing her duty. Her first appointment is on 7th January 2019 when the justices are scheduled to hear their next round of arguments.
At the moment influencers do not seem in danger of extinction, but there are currently cases that may be shaking their roles and that regard not just ethical issues that emerged in the last few years (from disclosed, undisclosed and fake sponsored posts to the questionable behavior regarding a brand paying an influencer to post negative reviews about a competitor's product), but also legal matters.
In October 2018 PR Consulting ("PRC") filed a suit against actor, model and influencer Luka Sabbat in a New York state court (the case is PR Consulting, Inc., v. Luka Sabbat, 655382/2018 (NY Sup)) for failing to keep up his obligations of influencer as stated in a contract dated September 15, 2018.
Sabbat signed a $60,0000 agreement with PRC to promote Snap Inc.'s camera-equipped Snapchat-powered Spectacles glasses.
According to the agreement he had to create four unique posts on Instagram (one Instagram Feed Post and three Instagram Story posts) during the S/S 19 fashion shows that took place in September and October 2018. Sabbat was supposed to post two stories from New York, and then also post from Milan or Paris, and was also expected to pose for pictures wearing the glasses in public during the shows in the European fashion capitals.
He accepted $45,000 up front, but then only posted one Feed and one Story. Besides, Sabbat did not submit the post to PR Consulting for approval before he posted it and did not provide analytics (reach, comments, likes, and views) to PRC for his first Instagram Story (as required by the contract) within 24 hour from posting.
So, claiming the influencer had not carried out his duties, PRC sued him for breach of contract and asked to return the advance money and pay interest, consequential and incidental damages and the legal bill as well.
You may argue that breach of contract is not so rare among celebrities who fail to promote a brand or a product (the list includes the Kardashian sisters, sued by Hullair Capital Management in 2016 for failing to market their Kardashian Beauty line). Things are different, though, for what regards the Sabbat case: while there are litigation cases between companies and influencers that we may not know of, this is the first time an influencer is sued for breaching a contract linked with an Instagram campaign and for "failing to influence" (yes, it does sound like a good title for a mysterious dystopian novel "The Influencer Who Failed to Influence"...).
In a way this is a lesson for influencers to take things more seriously (well, they claim this is a serious job and they're probably right if we consider the fact that they are supposed to drive product sales), but this is also a lesson to learn for brands willing to work with influencers (Calvin Klein after the fall of Raf Simons?).
Yet the case opens up a new dilemma: in a previous post we analysed new e-commerce regulations in China, but it looks like contracts between brands and influencers will have to be regulated by new laws as well that go beyond the Federal Trade Commission rules that regard disclosing advertised posts. Some companies are protecting themselves from lawsuits for breach of contract using prorated payment terms (an influencer gets paid a certain amount of the agreed total after each post rather than a large up front sum, that sounds like a reasonable decision).
But there are other issues and standards that should have to be included in a contract with influencers (issues that proper law may regulate better) - from rights and copyrights to the possibility of a brand to use that specific content in another medium (printed press, TV etc), and rights to alter, edit or Photoshop a specific photo or video and so on. Besides, a contract should also indicate how many people a company expects an influencer to reach: accusing somebody of "failing to influence" is indeed a general statement as we don't know how many people the company expects to reach and how many items they expect to sell (online? in a brick and mortar store?). In a nutshell quantifying the failure to influence may be a tricky process.
That's why Sabbat's legal team asked the court to dismiss the case, claiming there are no sufficient facts showing that a violation has occurred and that there is no necessary party to the litigation (Snap decided not to get involved in the decision to sue Sabbat; the company has actually got bigger financial issues as their Spectacles didn't go well since they were released and a lawsuit and the bad publicity deriving from it would just mean more expenses to them; at the same time while Snap is the client it's PRC who did the contract with Sabbat, so the influencer may not have a point here). Sabbat may be right if his contract doesn't include any references about the number of people PRC expected to reach via the influencer and the items Snap expected to sell.
In a way PRC/Snap Inc got more publicity with the lawsuit than with the influencer's posts, so, who knows, maybe the parties will reach an agreement or the court may just dismiss the case (but in case it doesn't happen it will be intriguing to see the outcomes as they will prove useful for similar cases that may happen in future). Will "failing to influence" become another legal issue next year after the multiple yearly copyright infringement cases so popular and trendy in the fashion industry? Time will tell, but hopefully Lidewij Edelkoort's prophesy will become true and we will see not just zero lawsuits involving brands/fashion houses and influencers, but also a decrease in the actual number of influencers.
In yesterday's post we looked at colourful blooms in art, but we can keep on dreaming about Spring trends in Winter by stepping back in the past.
In December 1960, Italian magazine Annabella did a feature about popular millinery trends for January 1961: the most flamoboyant option was a Dior unisex hat made of tiny feathers (a traditional Haute Couture technique often seen on Dior and Chanel's runways, but also favoured by younger designers such as Christelle Kocher in the collections for her brand, Koché).
The picture is in black and white, but the hats were available in different shades, including a more natural grey or a flamboyant red. The magazine suggested readers to match the accessory with a sporty or a casual look to create a contrast with this high fashion technique. Choosing the proper dress or coat to go with this hat may have been a dilemma for fashionistas, but fashion historians may be in a different quandary when it comes to these hats.
Yves Saint Laurent had replaced Dior after he died in 1957, but, in the late 1960, Laurent was replaced by Marc Bohan. So the real dilemma posed by the hats is were they designed by Saint Laurent before he left (after all, the modern and dynamic shape and the fact that they were unisex would point at him) or were they among the first accessories Bohan did as soon as arriving at Dior's house?
It may be Winter but that doesn't mean we can't dream about warmer seasons and colourful flowers in bloom. An obvious way to do it is looking at artworks featuring or revolving around the floral theme, such Arne Quinze's gardens.
The artist, whose work is suspended between art and architecture, focused in the last few months on a series of paintings entitled "My Secret Garden" and inspired by the meadow comprising over 4,000 plants and flowers that surrounds his house.
Mesmerised by nature and by the metamorphosis of flowers and plants in the different seasons, but also intrigued by the relationship existing between different plants and the effects they may have on human beings, Quinze continued his exploration of gardens and developed also a series of colourful aluminium and acryl pieces mounted on an oak or aluminium base.
The medium-sized sculptures are abstract representations of flowers such as Lobelia, Lupine, Persicaria and African Iris, characterised by a shape borrowed from nature, but also by bright and electric unnatural shades almost evoking invasive alien plants like the triffids in John Wyndham's sci-fi classic.
While starting to work on this new series Quinze also had in mind the evolution of anthropology and of plants as well and the way flowers develop into a broad spectrum of diverse forms, structures and colours, symbolising therefore a sociocultural conversation that stimulating creativity and embracing diversity.
This juxtaposition brought him to ponder about the diversity of nature and the ongoing expansion of cities and to look for ways to incorporate these pieces in his public installations that can help people to use art and architecture to start a debate about civic and shared spaces.
The sculptures will be on display next year in Valencia, at the Maruani Mercier Gallery in Brussels and at Patricia Low Gallery in Gstaad.
In Valencia the pieces will be displayed outdoor, overlooking the Principe Filipe Science Museum by Santiago Calatrava and engaging in a dialogue with its powerful architecture, reshifting in this way the attention on Arne Quinze's interest in public projects and installations.
The Christmas season always inspires countless features about festive party gowns. While most of us probably end up favouring reasonable and functional clothes that allow us to move around, play, dance or just relax, dreaming about impossibly grand gowns doesn't hurt.
The best inspirations obviously come from films: one of the most extraordinary gowns for the festive season would definitely be the star studded ensemble donned by Hedy Lamarr in Ziegfeld Girls, directed by Robert Z. Leonard.
The costumes for this 1941 film - starring Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and Lana Turner as Susan Gallagher, Sandra Kolter and Sheila Reganas, three aspiring showgirls - were created by one of the most famous costume designers in Hollywood, Adrian.
Hedy Lamarr, born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Austria, was known for her beauty and glamour (and her controversial first film Ecstasy, 1933, that made her notorious for including nude scenes and Lamarr simulating an orgasm). Yet, though promoted by Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, as the "world's most beautiful woman", Lamarr, who also inspired the looks of Disney's Snow White and of the original Catwoman, was much more than just a striking beauty, so there's more behind the starry gown.
Lamarr had an inventor's mind and in her spare time she would try and relieve her boredom from the lack of challenging acting roles by coming up with cutting edge inventions. Aviation tycoon Howard Hughes knew about this passion and Lamarr explained in interviews that she suggested him to change the square design of his aeroplanes to a more streamlined shape, based on pictures of the fastest birds and fish she had seen in books.
In the '40s Lamarr wanted to join the National Inventors Council, but was told by NIC member Charles F. Kettering to help the war effort by using her celebrity status and beauty to sell war bonds. She did so, but during the Second World War she also patented with composer and pianist George Antheil a "Secret Communication System" (Download US2292387_Lamarr).
It consisted in a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes that used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to defeat the threat of getting communications tracked and jammed by the enemies. The invention was granted a patent under US Patent 2,292,387 on August 11, 1942 (it was filed using her married name Hedy Kiesler Markey), but, considering it had come from outside the military, the U.S. Navy ended up using it only in 1962 (at the time of the Cuban missile crisis).
Lamarr wasn't able to receive compensation because, for her to receive any compensation, the Navy should have used her patent before it expired (besides, according to US Patent Law, when a patent expires an inventor has six years to sue for payment and Lamarr didn't know about it; you can discover more about this story in the documentary Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, written and directed by Alexandra Dean).
In 1997, Lamarr and Antheil received the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Pioneer Award and the Invention Convention's Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Bronze Award, given to individuals whose creative lifetime achievements in the arts, sciences, business or invention fields had contributed to society (Lamarr was the first woman to receive it).
As the years passed, the principles of Lamarr and Antheil's frequency-hopping spectrum technology became the basis for a series of modern applications including bluetooth, wi-fi, cell phones and military technology. Some say that Lamarr's career as a scientist was probably derailed by her beauty, so, when you dream about festive gowns, try and ponder a bit about the story of Hedy Lamarr, who may have been a glamorous scientist rather than just a beautiful actress with a passion for inventions.
Neapolitan nativity scenes are particularly beautiful and rich as they are populated with all sorts of characters: the Holy Family is its fulcrum, but around it there are shepherds and their flocks, the procession of the three Magi, colourful peasants and the townspeople of Bethlehem, while angels and cherubs fly above the scene.
All the figures are usually made with articulated bodies of tow and wire with polychromed terracotta heads and wooden limbs and they are dressed in clothes made with fabric and leather and covered in embellishments, beaded details and embroideries or accessorised with jewels such as necklaces and carry musical instruments or baskets of fruit, bread, cheese, fish or shells (these parts are usually made with wax).
The Met Museum in New York usually has a very special display in Gallery 305 featuring a Neapolitan Baroque Crèche including 71 figures traditional to 18th-century Naples and a twenty-foot Christmas Tree.
The Met Museum has also got in its archives a series of figures that can be studied from a fashion point of view: the Angels remain beautiful for the way the robes were folded and sculpted to look as if they were moving in the wind, but the attire of the peasants can contribute to shed a light on fashion and folklore from the 1800s.
This post features two images of angels from the Met Museum collection, and images referring to two old women and a younger one (mainly from the second half of the 18th century or the mid-19th century). All of them wear very colourful and intricate regional costumes.
The first old woman in this post wears a colourful attire with a skirt covered with an embroidered apron on the front that reveals an elaborate series of pleats on the back. She is also wearing a finely pleated shirt/petticoat underneath her dress (that we can see from her sleeves) and accessories like a scarf and a golden necklace. The second old woman is also wearing an elaborate dress with a golden fringe and a bustier, matched with a jacket with splits along the sleeves anchored in their places with pink ribbons.
The third figure represents a younger woman and in her case the most intriguing detail (apart from the bustier, petticoat and necklace) is probably the white gauze-like apron that allows us to see the red skirt underneath. The figure is attributed to Lorenzo Mosca, who was employed at the Royal Porcelain Factory at Capodimonte and was also stage director of the Royal Christmas Crib. Enjoy the costume details and have a Merry Christmas!
It has become a bit of a tradition for Alessandro Michele at Gucci to come up with Pre-Fall lookbooks that feature architecturally interesting spaces in the background.
As you may remember from a previous post, Gucci's Pre-Fall 2018 lookbook was shot in the area of Rome known as Coppedè, from the achitect who designed it between 1915 and 1927 - Gino Coppedè - and in locations that inspired also Italian horror director Dario Argento.
Yet for the occasion Michele moved back from France to Italy and in particular to Pompeii and Herculaneum for a shoot inspired by history. The clothes and accessories were actually more of the same already seen on Gucci's runways since Michele became the Creative Director.
The designs (presented via a lookbook, but displayed in the company's Milan-based hub for the press) didn't show any new direction for Michele: they looked eccentric and flamboyant, opulent and elegant, covered in embroideries or made with more traditional fabrics. At times they seemed luxurious vintage finds rather than new designs, at others family heirlooms found in the wardrobe of a beloved Auntie Mame-like relative.
In the lookbook images the looks were layered forming contrasting clashes and combinations of colours and patterns: a fuchsia leather skirt suit was layered under a quilted bomber jacket and accessorised with red gloves; there were plenty of kaftans in rich prints and tailored three-piece suits in thick brocaded fabrics, plus faux fur coats, leather jackets covered in embroidered strawberries, floral dresses matched with sport socks and pool side slippers or tracksuits bottoms accessorised with glittery sandals and silky turbans.
For the evening the collection included velvet dresses and ball gowns covered in sequins or with embrodieries of starry nights. In this maximalist orgy that could be interpreted as an over the top exercise in styling with some cringing notes added (see the thick nude/brown stockings of the type only your grandma would wear between 1981 and 1982...), the architectural backgrounds actually proved more interesting than the actual clothes (and they are probably the only thing that can help us distinguish one collection from the other in Michele's case).
Director and photographer Harmony Korine took the pictures in the archaeological parks of Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried with its inhabitants under ash, dust and pebbles by an eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. (both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites). The images will be published next year in a limited-edition volume by Idea Books.
In Korine's images the models pose, drink fizzy drinks, eat pizzas and sweets (a reference to the food on the go that you could get from the "thermopolia" in Pompeii and Herculaneum? These public establishments served hot food and drinks especially at lunch time since it was customary to have lunch outside the home...) or get photographed by tourists as if they were works of art.
Behind them you may be able to spot sections of some of the most intriguing places in Pompeii famous for their frescoed panels in black, Pompeian red and yellow, including the House of Menander, Stephanus' laundry (a very apt fashion references as in these spaces people would weave and dye textiles, spin wool and wash clothes) and the House of the Lararium of Achilles.
There aren't actually any direct connections, links and juxtapositions between the colours, themes and frescoes on the walls and the clothes. The archaeological sites are there just to provide a set and setting and, in many ways, that's a bit of a shame as it seems a missed opportunity, especially when it comes to the images shot in Herculaneum.
Built on a volcanic plateau, on a cliff over the sea at the foot of Vesuvius, the town was modestly sized compared to Pompeii, but it featured equally beautiful places including the temple known as the Sacellum of the four Gods, dedicated to Minerva, Neptune, Mercury and Volcano, divinities related to the world of manufacture, trade and crafts, the polychrome marble decorations of the glass paste mosaics like the one depicting Neptune and Amphitrite that adorns the east wall of a house, or decorating the nymphaeum in the same house.
As a whole Gucci's Pre-Fall 2019 collection is as eccentric and bizarre as all the others designed by Alessandro Michele, but at least it fulfills our hope of seeing a fashion photoshoot in Pompeii (a wish from 2008...), besides it ties well with the current news.
Last week archaeologists found the remains of horses in an ancient Pompeii stable and in particular the petrified remains of a harnessed horse and saddle in the stable of a villa. It probably belonged to a high-ranking military officer, perhaps a general, in ancient Roman times, Pompeii archaeological park's head Massimo Osanna explained to the press.
Looks like Pompeii and Herculaneum, frozen in time yet still beautiful, are still trending and they probably remain more intriguing, mysterious and fascinating than any fashion collection that may ever be shot there.
Even fashionistas who may not be into art know Peggy Guggenheim for her style, accessories such as jewels at times made by artists and flamboyant butterfly-shaped sunglasses. But there will be more time to discover about her next year thanks to an event that will celebrate her at the Venice-based Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
Curated by Karole P. B. Vail, with Gražina Subelytė, "Peggy Guggenheim. The Last Dogaressa" (21 September, 2019 - 27 January, 2020) will take place inside Peggy Guggenheim's former home, the beautiful Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on Venice's Grand Canal.
Visitors can usually admire here iconic pieces of 20th century European and American art, including works by Francis Picabia, Robert Delaunay, Piet Mondrian, Salvador Dalí, Giorgio De Chirico, Constantin Brancusi, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti and Alexander Calder, on display in the spaces where the collector lived - from her bedroom to the dining room, kitchen and library.
The exhibition will celebrate Peggy Guggenheim's life in Venice where she moved in 1948, after she closed her museum-gallery Art of This Century (1942-47) in New York. The exhibition will present a selection of paintings, sculptures and works that Guggenheim acquired from the late 1940s to 1979, the year she died and will offer the chance to see again masterpieces like René Magritte's Empire of Light (1953–54), and works by René Brô, Gwyther Irwin and Grace Hartigan, as well as the Japanese-born Kenzo Okada and Tomonori Toyofuku.
For those of you who may visit the Palazzo in the next few weeks, there is instead still the chance to see "1948: The Biennale of Peggy Guggenheim", marking the 70th anniversary of the exhibition of the collection of Peggy Guggenheim in the Greek Pavilion at the 24th Venice Biennale (with a layout designed by Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa), and "Osvaldo Licini: Let Sheer Folly Sweep Me Away", featuring around 80 works of the Italian abstract painter. Both exhibitions will be open until 14th January 2019.
So it is official: Raf Simons has departed Calvin Klein after less than two years as Chief Creative Officer at the American fashion house. The formal announcement from PVH Corp., Calvin Klein's parent company, arrived yesterday, stating: "Both parties have amicably decided to part ways after Calvin Klein Inc. decided on a new brand direction which differs from Simons's creative vision."
Simons was appointed in August of 2016, prior to which he worked as Creative Director at Dior. At Calvin Klein Simons replaced Francisco Costa (womenswear creative director) and Italo Zucchelli (menswear) and was in charge of Calvin Klein Collection, Calvin Klein Platinum, Calvin Klein, Calvin Klein Jeans, Calvin Klein Underwear and Calvin Klein Home brands. Simons' longtime associate, Pieter Mulier, was appointed Creative Director, reporting directly to Simons and managing the men's and women's design teams within the Calvin Klein brand.
Simons' first acclaimed collection appeared in February 2017 and soon the brand's show became the main attraction of an otherwise long, yet uninteresting, calendar at New York Fashion Week.
Things didn't go as well as hoped on a commercial level and Simons' departure was in the air: at the end of November Emanuel Chirico, chairman and CEO of PVH Corp., stated the group was disappointed by the lack of return on their investments in the Calvin Klein 205W39NYC line, adding that he believed some of Calvin Klein Jeans' relaunched products did not sell well as they were too elevated.
Chirico also pointed out that collections had to become more commercial from 2019 (a decision anticipated by the company's recent commercial events with Amazon) and that investments in the collections and advertising would be shifted elsewhere from runway shows to influencers as well.
According to reports Calvin Klein's third-quarter earnings fell to $121 million (from $142 million a year earlier), one of the reasons why PVH missed Wall Street estimates for the first time in at least two years.
There may be disruptions for the brand as Simons signed a three year contract that was going to expire in the summer of 2019 and Calvin Klein will therefore not present a collection during the Fall 2019 season in New York (something that will undoubtedly have an impact on the fashion calendar...).
But what were the weaknesses of this collaboration between Calvin Klein and Simons? The designers' collections were critical successes for journalists (even when they showed connections and derivations from American designers - remember the bizarre Bonnie Cashin "coincidence"?), but they were maybe a bit too arty.
Simons incorporated in his shows sets by Sterling Ruby, came up with a deal with the Andy Warhol Foundation to use the artist's works on Calvin Klein products and combined in his collections a series of American tropes, including quilts, cowboy culture, cheerleaders, the high school years, horror stories and iconic films such as The Graduate and Jaws, celebrating the culture, but adding to it a quirky and dark edge.
Simons may have overspent on arty investments, grand sets, fabric elaborations and luxurious fabrications, yet he still generated an interest about the company and won a series of awards including the CFDA Award for Womenswear and Menswear Designer of the Year (in 2017) and the women's prize again this year.
When he exited Dior, Simons stated that his decision was based on his desire "to focus on other interests," including his own brand and personal passions.
Shortly afterwards, he also shared his views on the rhythms of fashion in interviews, claiming that the relentless catwalk shows and collections meant that there was no time for letting ideas grow and mature. Yet moving to Calvin Klein, a major global company, wasn't maybe the best decision for him as he didn't manage to set a proper new direction for the brand.
Maybe he didn't manage to do it because there were too many duties in his hands. In September the company reduced some of his responsibilities and wanted him to agree to a new contract that shifted some of his responsibilities including store design, visual merchandising, e-commerce, public relations and communications, and corporate social responsibility to Marie Gulin-Merle, chief marketing officer. But sources say that Simons didn't like the restrictions.
Or maybe the reasons for this failure stands in the fact that fashion houses and brands do not consider how much consumers are currently willing to spend on new clothes or how our collective habits are slowly changing and some of us have definitely started buying less pieces to reduce personal expenses and adopt a more responsible and sustainable behaviour towards our planet.
Simons and his team (including his colleague and the creative director of Calvin Klein womenswear Pieter Mulier who posted a black screen with no caption on his Instagram account to break the news) aren't the only ones to leave - it was recently announced that also Rod Manley, executive vice president of global communications at Calvin Klein Inc., is leaving the New York-based fashion house. So the future is foggy at Calvin Klein, but is also remains uncertain for all people working in the fashion industry: Emanuel Chirico claimed that, apart from being too expensive, the products they were selling were too fashion-forward, but fashion is a forward industry. If it is not ready for conceptualisms, if it is just aiming to sell commercial products, where is the innovation? Will investing in the possibilities offered by e-commerce, digital platforms and O2O events, and splashing more money on influencers bring financial success to Calvin Klein. Maybe in the short term, but these options do not generate memorable moments or products on a historical level (well, probably CK is not looking for museum fame at the moment, but just for money..).
As the year comes to an end and the favourite game of the industry - designer musical chair - restarts, there's only one thing's for sure, if a critically acclaimed designer departs a big fashion company, and is considered disposable and replaceable, then there is very little hope for younger generations of designers who still have to find their path and establish their styles and names. Looks like the industry is an endless game of musical chairs, join at your peril.