Gianfranco Ferré Design Principles, Exhibit in L.A.

The Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles will host the exhibition “Gianfranco Ferré. Design Principles,” until May 15, 2023. The exhibit was curated by the Gianfranco Ferré Research Center of the Milan Polytechnic, founded in December 2021 by the Ferré family.

Gianfranco Ferré. Design Principles
Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles
1023 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles

Gianfranco Ferré (1944-2007) was one of the great Italian fashion designers, and his work is instantly recognizable for its innovative style. To create his own unique language along the two dimensions that Blaise Pascal had defined as “esprit the géométrie” (geometric knowledge) and “esprit de finesse,” Ferré drew on the tradition of architectural composition, fusing a rigorous technical process with a rich poetics (artistic knowledge).

The exhibition delves into Gianfranco Ferré's singular approach through various drawings and iconic garments, providing the viewer with an immersive experience enhanced by digital displays of the Ferré archive via images and videos delving deeper into the exhibition's narrative.

Incorporating digital connections to the Ferré archive through images and videos that delve into the exhibition's narrative, this show seeks to explore Gianfranco Ferré's distinctive approach to fashion design through a selection of drawings and iconic garments.

The designer's sketches are displayed on the “drawings wall,” leading visitors through Ferré's vision of fashion design as a living, evolving process that emerges from the tireless pursuit of an aesthetic and scientific balance. The designs are organized into thematic sections that trace a path along which the principles of design manifest in the infinite variations on the archetype of the white shirt: the fashion designer's iconic creative work (the body, the material, the color, the detail, the volume, the movement).

At the opening reception on February 8th was hosted by the Italian Consul General Silvia Chiave, the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles Emanuele Amendola, and the exhibition's curators Paola Bertola and Rita Airaghi.

Guests heard from Arizona State University professor, fashion expert, and former curator Dennita Sewell who said, “To paraphrase Gianfranco Ferré, I present to you My Opinion on the White Shirt. In honor of Gianfranco Ferré “FIDM faculty members David Paul and Nick Verreos oversee the Fashion Design, Fashion Design Advanced Study, and Film & TV Costume Design programs.

BROWSE: Gianfranco Ferré Fashion