VELVET TWIST: The “Velvet Mi Amor” exhibition hosted by Pitti Uomo and mounted inside the Fortezza da Basso fairgrounds in Florence gave visitors a chance to look at the heritage fabric through a different lens.
Celebrating a book of the same name published by Dario Cimorelli Editore and authored by Stefano Chiassai and his daughter Corinna, the exhibit featured one-of-a-kind designs bringing to real life the deep-dive exploration of velvet across the book’s six chapters. Chiassai is a fashion designer consulting for some of the biggest international luxury brands.
Elongated mannequins donned outfits as varied as patchwork corduroy loose suits, dévoré puffers, experimental weaved outerwear crafted from velvet-looking silk, lace-up shoes, bottle holders and more. The mannequins are supersized to avoid the idea the garments would be for sale (they won’t).
The “Velvet Mi Amor” exhibition at Pitti Uomo.
Courtesy of Stefano Chiassai Studio
The project’s ambition was to exalt the fabric beyond the two notions it has been traditionally associated with the most: baroque opulence or outdoorsy gear. The showcase displayed how the fabric can be plied into contemporary garb across aesthetics. To do so, the Chiassais linked with storied velvet-maker Pontoglio 1883 and with Ostinelli Seta to develop velvet-looking fabrics achieved through screen printing.
“The installation is about taking an ancient fabric [velvet] to a completely different direction, creating something modern, futuristic even…it’s about offering an inspiration and showing what the fabric allows you to do,” said exhibition curator Marius Hordijk.
In addition to the book and temporary exhibition at Pitti Uomo, the “Velvet Mi Amor” project is to be permanently accessible at TheCube Archive, a physical space in San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy, as well as on the archive’s online platform. The archive is the brainchild of the Chiassais together with the Dutch curator Hordijk, and is open by appointment to students, designers, brands, archivists and more fashion personalities looking for inspiration.
Stefano Chiassai
Courtesy of Stefano Chiassai Studio
The “Velvet Mi Amor” book was preceded by other glossy tomes by Chiassai, who has been running his Stefano Chiassai Studio fashion consultancy since 1985, having also introduced a now-discontinued namesake brand in the late ’80s. They include “CaosOrdinato” from 2016 and “RitmoEmotivo” from 2018, focused on spotlighting the 20,000-piece archive the designer owns, as well as “Blue Tailoring” published in 2020 and, parallel to “Velvet Mi Amor,” centered on the varied uses and interpretations of denim.