What’s old is new again in a special exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art connecting Italian early modern art with contemporary fashions from Versace, Armani, Ferragamo and others. Hoop skirts, ruffs (pleated collars) and puff sleeves are just a few of the Renaissance styles that show up in more recent designs.
“Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses” pairs more than 500-year-old paintings, textiles and other works alongside modern fashions to illustrate how the era has influenced famed designers both directly and indirectly.
“There's just so much creativity that one could derive from something so simple as a painting or a plate, or even as simple as like a small little gemstone,” said Darnell-Jamal Lisby, associate curator of fashion at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Lisby joined the museum as its first fashion curator in 2021, and this exhibit is the largest dedicated to fashion to date at CMA.
In front of a reproduction of Sandro Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” there are three different flowing gowns, modern reflections of femininity and radiance, Lisby said.
“You see the emphasis with Gianni Versace's alignment with all the different crystals, Swarovski crystals, is very much emphasized in the silhouette and the curves of a woman's body,” Lisby said. “That’s something Botticelli was doing with his Venus."
Italian designers were heavily influenced by Christianity, and a section of the exhibit explores religiously inspired pieces.
“There are some designers that were a little more religiously inclined, spiritually inclined, and others that just wanted to use and absorb Catholic and Christian imagery,” Lisby said.
Some examples are obvious, such as gold crucifixes on a Versace gown. Others instances, like the choice of red and blue — colors often associated with the Virgin Mary — are a little more subtle.
Warm and bright
A signature piece in the exhibit is a unique take on the ubiquitous puffer coat. The flowing, yellow coatdress has a very wide, pleated skirt and hood by Pierpaolo Piccioli for Moncler.
“I found it very reminiscent of specifically mid-15th century fashion, when you had the implementation of women’s trains in their skirts, to the point where many of the early modern municipalities actually had to have sumptuary laws to control how much fabric women were using,” Lisby said.
Making it look easy
The contemporary fashions and historic art also demonstrate sprezzatura, which refers to the ability to make greatness appear effortless, much like fashion spreads in magazines and runway shows. The Italian term dates to the 1500s, coined by Baldassarre Castiglione in “The Book of the Courtier.”
Lisby looked to “Portrait of a Man” by Lorenzo Lotto as a symbol of sprezzatura while organizing the show. The subject of the painting is advertising his stature with his fur-lined coat, gold jewelry and blooming trunk hose.
“All the efforts of menswear at the time was to make a man seem larger than life,” Lisby said.
Next to the painting in the exhibit, Lisby placed an all-denim ensemble — even the fur-like coat — by Glenn Martens for Diesel.
Past reflections
The exhibition is meant to be both fun and educational, Lisby said.
There are plenty of celebrity connections too, such as an armor-inspired dress Zendaya wore to the Met Gala or a rainbow sandal Salvatore Ferragamo made for Judy Garland.
Italian designers have had the luxury of growing up surrounded by Renaissance art, Lisby said, making it a part of everyday life and inspiration.
“There’s not so much different from then as to what we’re living in now. They cared about inflation as we do. They cared about looking good as we do,” he said. “They cared about the way fashion made them feel and also how it shaped their society.”
“Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses” is a ticketed exhibition on view through Feb. 1.
