It’s inevitable not to compare the new show at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute to last year’s blockbuster, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, however unfair that might be. But it doesn’t matter, because Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, a pairing of two disparate designers that gives far too much precedence to the latter, falls flat, regardless of what preceded it.
Author Archives: Alexander Cavaluzzo
Alexander Cavaluzzo is a Pop Poet, Cultural Critic and Sartorial Scholar. He received his BS in Art History from FIT and his MA in Arts Politics at NYU. His interests focus on the intersection of fashion, art and pop culture.
Posted inArt
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Pandemic Scorned
The slogan “Silence=Death” remains one of the most recognizable images from the art produced during the AIDS crisis in America. Created by the activist art collective Gran Fury, it complemented a movement of creativity that held social change as its core. Now, over 30 years since the term “AIDS” was first recognized, the collective’s retrospective Gran Fury: Read My Lips at NYU captivates this tumultuous time in American history and shows us that, perhaps, we haven’t progressed much.
Posted inArt
She Gives Good Window Display
January usually sees the dismantling of lavish holiday windows on Fifth Avenue, a dissipation of arresting tableaux that engaged pedestrians. But the eminent Paris department store Le Printemps refused to wait until next year to showcase another extravagant display, hosting fashion icon’s Daphne Guinness’s second foray into performance art housed in their windows.
Posted inArt
It’s the Political Economy, Stupid
“Artists do not necessarily have the solutions, but they ask the great questions” says Andreas Stadler, director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in regards to their new convention-questioning show It’s the Political Economy, Stupid, a devastatingly harsh look at our political realities in the times of this financial crisis.
Posted inArt
Fashioning a Medium
Painting, sculpture and drawing have dominated the means of artistic expression since the dawn of time. Of course now everything in between has been used as a medium, but since the big three have remained a staple, it’s been incredible to see a recent resurgence of using fashion objects as the raw materials for art.
Posted inOpinion
Get This Season’s It Bag, Courtesy of Leonardo da Vinci
Based upon sketches drawn round the time he worked on “The Last Supper” (15th C.), an Italian fashion house is introducing a new bag designed by the original Renaissance man himself.
Posted inOpinion
Occupy Dolce & Gabbana
The internet was atwitter this past month when reports broke of protests at Dolce & Gabbana’s Hong Kong flagship over alleged discrimination.
Posted inOpinion
Commercialism Fears Plague Colosseum Restoration
Rome wasn’t built in a day and it’s taking even longer to restore. Marred by age, pollution and a poorly placed subway line, the Roman Colosseum’s restoration was supposed to be funded by Diego Della Valle, the president and chief executive of the Italian shoe firm Tod’s, but legal troubles and protests may force the shoe designer to rescind his €25 million offer.
Posted inArt
Louis Vuitton Spots New Japanese Artist, Same Old Accessories Expected
I find it exciting when fine art fuses with fashion, and Louis Vuitton’s recently announced collaboration with Yayoi Kusama may produce some spectacularly spotted goods. Interestingly, this pairing coincided with former LV collaborator Takashi Murakami’s newly unveiled installation at Qatar Museums Authority, which witnessed a departure from the Japanese artist’s signature Superflat subject matter.
Posted inArt
Who Owns the Color Red?
Can a person own a color? Yves Klein may say yes, but Yves Saint Laurent begs to differ.
Posted inArt
Did the Internet Make Fashion More Accessible?
High fashion used to be the terrain of the elite and fashion shows once welcomed only editors, buyers and VIPs but the internet has changed all that.
Posted inNews
Museum at FIT Refuses to Comment on Controversial Relationship with Israeli Settlement Developer
The Museum of FIT refuses to comment on their controversial sponsorship deal with Israeli settlement-developer and (possible blood) diamond magnate Lev Leviev.