{"id":5157,"date":"2024-12-09T12:20:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T11:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/?p=5157"},"modified":"2024-12-17T16:55:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T15:55:18","slug":"fashion-foundations-or-fashion-of-foundations-the-prada-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/en\/focus-en\/fashion-foundations-or-fashion-of-foundations-the-prada-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Fashion foundations or fashion of foundations? The Prada case"},"content":{"rendered":"

What ten years ago was just a megaphone for brands is now the place to be for understanding how fashion and art relate. Fashion foundations are now more than just a container for passing on a brand’s legacy, as the design experience of the Fondazione Prada in Milan shows<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Domenico Casoria<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Natural appendages of the archive and fashion foundations are now more than just containers for passing on a brand’s legacy. And if,<\/strong> at times, museums <\/strong>are still reluctant to welcome the ‘youngest daughter’ among the artistic disciplines, it is precisely fashion that has chosen to create its own spaces <\/strong>or make itself a place for art<\/strong>. This time, however, putting itself in a dominant position. Or at least a wait-and-see attitude.<\/p>\n

Place to be<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What ten years ago was just a megaphone for brands is now the place to be for understanding how fashion and art relate<\/strong>. In recent years, foundations have been transformed from archives in which to store clothes and sketches to containers in which to weave the link between brand and art. Fondazione Prada<\/strong>, which has set the standard for its structural approach, was founded as a project in 1993<\/strong>, chaired by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli. It opened the doors of its Milan headquarters in May 2015 and has since become a point of reference for artists <\/strong>from all over the world.<\/p>\n

The unique Prada Foundation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As soon as the Fondazione Prada<\/a> opened, it was immediately apparent that the relationship between fashion and other artistic practices would change. Indeed, the foundation is neither an archive nor a museum<\/strong>. It is a space to address the investigation of human culture <\/strong>in its variety and complexity. A laboratory <\/strong>in which to question how artistic and intellectual research affects people’s lives. Designed by Studio OMA, <\/strong>led by Rem Koolhaas<\/strong>, it reflects precisely this multitude of stimuli<\/strong>. The structure (former distillery of the Societ\u00e0 Italiana Spiriti) reflects the multidisciplinary <\/strong>attitude. The programme of the Milan venue – because, in the meantime, a venue in Venice <\/strong>has also been opened – includes art and archaeology exhibitions, scientific conferences, musical events, dance performances, and permanent and non-permanent installations.<\/p>\n

Creating participatory dynamics<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of Fondazione Prada’s objectives is to create participatory dynamics<\/strong>. As in the case of For My Best Family<\/strong>, a site-specific work by Meriem Bennani<\/strong>, on view from 31 October to 24 February 2025. In the work, the artist investigates the social and cultural dimensions <\/strong>of living together, the most intimate and complex aspects of everyone’s identity<\/strong>, and the dialogue between individual and community.<\/p>\n

The works of the Rabat-born artist dwell on the degree of contradictions <\/strong>that permeate contemporary life today. For the Fondazione Prada, Bennani has created the installation Sole Crushing<\/strong>, an orchestra of 192 flip-flops and slippers, <\/strong>which, animated by a pneumatic system, give life to a repetition of synchronised or disordered sounds. The other half of the work is the 3D film For Aicha<\/strong>, which follows the adventures of a young Moroccan filmmaker in the guise of a jackal and her relationship with her mother.<\/p>\n

Why it is not a museum <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Meriem Bennai’s arrival at the Fondazione Prada shows the direction the label wants to take. The flip-flops – much used by Bennani – are perhaps the latest legacy of the street style culture <\/strong>that has also conquered the catwalks of luxury brands, including Prada. This may sound strange, but it is a powerful connection linking two different cultural industries. The Fondazione Prada is not just a museum in which to display works or adorned mannequins. To all intents and purposes, it is a space to compromise and question clothes and the body: it is as far from a place wrapped up in itself as one can get today.<\/p>\n

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