Tomorrow marks el Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), in Mexico, but celebrations already start today. So, let's get in the mood with a sketch by Italian costume designer Giulio Coltellacci (readers may remember him for his costumes in Elio Petri's La decima vittima). This particular sketch was created for a theatre performance with a scene set in Mexico that had to capture the essence of the Day of the Dead.
The sketch emanates elegance, portraying the dancers with a grace reminiscent of fashion models. The vibrant, embroidered flowers on the skirt of one woman and on the top and skirt of another infuse the scene with vividness. While the women portrayed may almost look like fashion models on a runway, there's a poignant twist – the skeleton dressed in white dancing among them. It serves as a memento mori, a symbol of el Día de los Muertos, reminding us of the cycle of life and death (which actually connects with fashion as well, if you think about the Dialogue between Fashion and Death written by Giacomo Leopardi in 1824).
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