Maria Callas the divine opera singer has always been trending in fashion: there have been quite a few Dolce & Gabbana collections that moved from opera and from her costumes, while Marc Jacobs explored her drama and grandeur in a print in his S/S 16 collection.
Last year Callas was celebrated at Gallerie d'Italia in Milan with a photographic exhibition (that will be on until the end of February). In early December, shortly after the exhibition opened and after Callas' birth anniversary, Erdem Moralioglu unveiled his Pre-Fall 24 collection.
The latter took inspiration from Callas' personal life and featured elegant gowns, some paired with matching opera coats, adorned with floral patterns and three-dimensional pink and red carnations reminiscent of the flowers tossed on stage after performances.
Erdem found the inspiration compelling and continued to explore the theme in his Autumn/Winter 24 collection, showcased during London Fashion Week. The show's venue, Room 18 of the British Museum, was a tribute to Maria Callas's Greekness.
As you may remember, the Ancient Greek sculptures (by 5th-century sculptor and architect Phidias) on display in this room once adorned the Parthenon (they were renamed by the British as the Elgin Marbles from the time they were removed from Athens and shipped to the UK by the agents of the British 7th Earl of Elgin in the 19th century) and remain at the center of an ownership dispute as Greece often asked the UK to return them.
Erdem paid tribute to Callas's Greek heritage with this location, while the collection was meant to juxtapose Callas's public persona, through designs such as herringbone and bouclé ensembles, cocktail dresses, and grand opera coats featuring dramatic shawl collars, and her private persona with silk pajamas and marabou feather-covered slipper flats.
Roses, again reminiscent of those tossed on stage, were reimagined as oversized gold brooches and earrings, and used to adorn slingback shoes.
Though the designs did not directly reference Callas's gowns by her favorite designer, Biki, Erdem attempted to capture the essence of her wardrobe introducing some modern elements like the evening dresses in crumpled silk in a palette that echoed Prada's post-nuclear Hawaiian prints.
The only precise reference to Callas were the bold painted brushstrokes added to three floral gowns that pointed at Callas's costume for the 1953 staging of "Medea", designed by Salvatore Fiume. The Sicilian artist originally moved to Milan to become a painter, but his first success came in the literary field. A painter, sculptor, architect, writer and stage designer, he warmly accepted to collaborate with La Scala as set and costume designer when he was invited to do so.
Directed by Leonard Bernstein, this staging of Luigi Cherubini's Medea was a very successful performance: while it marked the very first changes in Maria Callas' look (she had started losing weight at the time and had gained self-confidence), it also showed a very personal representation by Fiume of Medea's figure
Fiume created designs characterised by bold colours that called to mind the sets and costumes for the Ballets Russes and, rather than covering Medea in jewels, he opted for minimalist yet striking tunics that also showed an architectural derivation.
Fiume's costumes for Medea marked a pivotal moment in Callas's transformation both physically and artistically. Erdem's tribute to Fiume's costume for Callas offered the chance to a younger generation to rediscover it.
Yet, while it successfully connected with Callas through a reference to her role, the homage fell somewhat short in depth. It seemed indeed as though Erdem may have lacked the time or inclination to delve deeper, explore additional costumes and draw comparisons to other iconic designs.
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