Coats! Max Mara, 60 years of italian fashion
After Berlin, Tokyo and Beijing, "Coats!", the exhibition dedicated to the history of the Max Mara Group, will be opening in Moscow to celebrate the Group’s 60th Anniversary. The exhibition will run from the 12th October 2011 until the 10th January 2012, at Moscow’s prestigious State Historical Museum.
Built by the architect Vladimir Osipovich Shervud between 1875 and 1881, this important museum dominates the north-eastern side of Red Square with its unmistakable pinnacle architecture and tells the history of “Great Mother Russia”. Its exhibition rooms house over 4 million exhibits and 15 million historical documents, with collections ranging from prehistoric relics through to priceless artworks purchased by the Romanov dynasty. Officially inaugurated with a visit by the Czar and his wife in 1883, it was re-named the “Imperial Russian History Museum” the following year.
Once again designed and organised by Studio Migliore + Servetto, this international exhibition’s prestigious Moscow setting follows similarly impressive events, held at the Kulturforum in Berlin (in November 2006), the Mori Arts Center in the Roppongi Hills in Tokyo (in 2007) and the Namoc (il National Art Museum of China) in 2008.
The curator of the exhibition Adelheid Rasche, is a major name in the history of fashion and art. She is the chief curator of the "Sammlung Modebild - Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek (Fashion Image Collection - Lipperheide Costume Library) at the Art Library within The National Museum of Berlin and a member of the ICOM - International Council of Museums, Costume Committee.
“Coats! Max Mara, 60 Years of Italian Fashion”, takes visitors on a journey into the history of Italian fashion focusing upon the changing shape of Max Mara’s signature and most iconic garment, the coat.
A selection of around 70 rare coats from the fifties to the present day will be presented alongside sketches and photographs all taken from Max Mara archives - these will include the now infamous 101801 camel coat, the trench, the fur-edged paletot said to have been a favourite of Katherine the Great and some pieces designed by ex Max Mara designers Emmanuelle Khanh, Anne-Marie Beretta, Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Charles de Castelbajac, Dolce & Gabbana, Narcisco Rodriguez, Franco Moschino and the stylist and designer Nanni Strada, who’s collection of futuristic folk style maxi coats designed for Sportmax in 1971 was recently brought to light again and immediately added to the exhibition.
The exhibition is divided into thematic areas that overlap with each other and are linked through a timeline, taking the visitor into different historical and cultural moments of the company: the foundation (50s-60s), the relationship with the publishing sector (70s), creativity (80s), photography (90s), and, last but not least, industrial production (2000).
The photography section includes campaigns by iconic photographers Sarah Moon, Paolo Roversi, Arthur Elgort, Albert Watson, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel, Richard Avedon, Craig Mc Dean and Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinooddh Maradin - and sketches from the Group’s archives, signed by designers who have worked with Max Mara throughout its history.
The section of the exhibition dedicated to art, features "themed" installations and artworks by contemporary artists such as William Wegmam and Miwa Yanagi alongside a new piece of work by Saint Petersburg artist Valery Katsuba, which was specifically commissioned by Max Mara for the new exhibition and portrays the Bolshoi Ballet company in a dream-like piece of choreography featuring tutus and Max Mara coats.
There will also be a new edition of the catalogue "Coats! Max Mara, 60 years of Italian fashion" produced for the Moscow exhibition, created by Adelheid Rasche and published by Skira.
The catalogue will be distributed in all the world’s finest bookshops, and will contain features by the critics Colin McDowell, Marco Belpoliti, Enrica Morini and Mariuccia Casadio.
2011 sees Moscow celebrating a year of Italian culture with "Coats!" being one of the high points of a programme of events organised as part of the celebration between Italy and Russia. This final edition of the “Coats!” exhibition also coincides with the 60th anniversary of the group’s foundation, and completes the celebrations held in honour of one of the biggest names in fashion.
More info on maxmara.com