Expected to be one of the biggest events of the year in Spain is the major retrospective dedicated to Gianni Versace, which will be inaugurated on 7 February in Malaga at the Centro Cultural Fundacion Unicaja. Twenty-eight years after the death of the Italian fashion designer, the Andalusian city that was the birthplace of Pablo Picasso will honour the visionary and revolutionary genius whose eccentric and sensual style left an indelible mark on the world of fashion.
The exhibition, sponsored by the Italian Embassy in Spain, where it was presented yesterday evening, will offer an immersive experience until 30 June, transporting visitors into the Versace universe. In an itinerary through 500 original pieces from private collections, mainly European, including clothes and accessories, sketches, prototypes, printed fabrics and unpublished photographs. It covers everything from Versace's earliest creations to the models that became icons in the 1990s, including the last autumn-winter 1997/78 collection presented before the tragic murder, as exhibition curator Karl Von der Ahé explained. The retrospective spans the different creative periods and trends that the iconic designer experienced in Milan, New York and Miami.
During the evening - presented by Embassy Cultural Counsellor Teodora Danisi and also attended by the Unicaja Foundation's Director of Cultural Activities José María Luna - Ambassador Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi emphasised how revolutionary the Italian designer was and how "he still represents a globally recognised excellence of Made in Italy".
"His fashion was much more than a style. It was a mixture of different cultures and inspirations: from Sicilian Baroque to punk and rock trends, from classical culture to references to Greek mythology, to Andy Warhol's pop-art,' Karl Von der Ahé remarked, pointing out the four historical models exhibited for the occasion at the Palazzo de Amboage in the Italian Embassy. A sampling of the 120 exclusive looks in bold, precious prints and vibrant colours, which will be housed in nine rooms of the Unicaja Foundation
They reflect the link between fashion and art, including the influence Andalusian architecture had on the designer, whose canons inspired him to build his Miami Beach villa, the curator recalled. But also Versace's relationship with pop culture, influenced by his creations that have become symbols of status and have inspired the world of music and cinema, starting with Pedro Almodovar.
"The narrative thread that underlies the exhibition is the emotion of penetrating the creative universe of Gianni Versace," Von der Ahé also told ANSA. "From the very beginning of the path there is the designer at work, who in his case really expresses his personality, with an almost religious dedication. The visitor can feel his emotions and then retrace his steps to read the texts'. Beginning with the initial rooms, which offer an incursion into Versace's childhood in Reggio Calabria, in the workshop of his milliner mother, from whom he learned so much and to whom he remained attached throughout his life.
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