A little late in the game as the exhibition has been on since the 24th April but Skin and Bones, an exhibition curated by MOCA, which I talked about yonks ago last year is finally making its final pitstop at the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House here in London and it’s here to stay until the 10th August 2008. Of course I was peeved that we had to wait so long but grateful that it made its way over here as it is indeed very well curated. The link between fashion and architecture and the design approaches that certain fashion designers have very decisively taken or even subconsciously so are well highlighted here.
The exhibition itself is very well organised, starting off with the roots and foundations of this link between fashion and architecture in the 1980’s, and then thematically classifying different structures, techniques and functions seen in both buildings and clothes… shelter, geometry, structural skin, volume, deconstruction, wrapping, pleating, printing, draping, folding, weaving, cantilevers and suspension. The conclusion of it all is that throughout the exhibition, whilst linking techniques can be seen in both fashion and architecture, they remain separate fields, influencing each other quietly but that finally, we are seeing a synthesis between the two, leaving it open ended as to whether we will see both fashion and archictured blur with each other.
I left with my own conclusions that a) I don’t know nearly enough about architecture and b) I haven’t seen enough of the world…
Then the fashion itself combined designers and designs that I was very familiar with and expected and also some unexpected names that I was probably more floored by. You have the Watanabe, Yamamoto, the CdG, the Miyake, McQueen, Chalayan, Elbaz etc but a lot of archive pieces by Isabel Toledo and Nanni Strada and a Yoshiki Hishinuma that probably counts as a household name in Japan yet this was the first time I had encountered him.
Definitely one not to miss for Londoners or tourists passing by…
one of the things i miss about london is the amazing exhibitions. i loove how they link fashion and architecture here…
i am def. lacking in the cleavage dptmt too.. but i aint letting it stop me! the dress is just too pretty to pass up 🙂 and i think with too much cleavage, the little opening in the front would look way too va-va-voom, if you know what i mean…
btw, i did my thesis in college on architecture and fashion!
I am drooling over the gold/champagne colour ruffled dress with wide black belt!
I’m so glad it’s on until August! I will definitely be visiting once my exams are over. Looks like a great exhibition!
so amazing how many different shapes a garment can have. I wish I would know how to construct all of these!
I went last weekend. It is a truly fantastic exhibition, although I found linking the architecture to the fashion quite difficult.
I saw this exhibition at the National Art Centre in Roppongi, Tokyo. It was indeed great, especially for me because I went with my husband who is an Architecture student and I am a fashion/art student so it was a great blend of both our interests. I wish we could have taken photo’s, but it wasn’t allowed. We got free tickets because my husbands student (we were English teachers in Japan) was a curator at the gallery. I thought it was a very Japanese exhibition, because it featured a lot of Japanese buildings and fashion designers, so I didn’t realise it was going to travel to the USA and UK.
The Japanese seem to marry fashion and architecture more intensely than we do in the west…I tend to think that western designers ‘try’ to be influenced by modern day architecture but ultimately fall short (Chalayan excluded).
i actually went to see the prada building in tokyo when i went to japan.
oh my god it is amazing! and i love the fact that you can see right through it.
there were a throng of tourists around there taking pictures too.
I visited last Sat (3rd)and I agree it was amazing. I always love the fact you can link fashion with architecture, in fact I can safely say alot of my own designs are linked to architecture.
Btw way I think I spotted you at the exhibit on Sat Susie :o)
hey!!!! this is annie. i’m a fashion communication student from canada. and recently i have to do a editorial project for school and teacher ask as to use the legal images. she ask us to purchase pictures that we use online. but i dont want-0- so i saw u have this prada photo that i really want to use. and can you please let me use this photo for my project???!! it is not for commercial, just for school project!! my email is anniefang2000cn@hotmail.com please let me know ur response!1 THANK YOU!!!!