Florence exhibitions examine the art-fashion dynamic, and reunite two worlds

Italy’s Renaissance capital, Florence, is reclaiming its centuries-old role as an incubator of the interplay between fashion and art.

The new director of the Uffizi gallery has announced plans to transform the Costume Gallery at Pitti Palace, which is also under his control, into a fully-fledged fashion museum, while the Ferragamo Foundation has opened city-wide exhibitions exploring the links between art and fashion.

Under the banner “Across Art and Fashion,” the exhibitions opened on Thursday at the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum with linked events at four other venues.

The complementary exhibits are the first in Italy to explore comprehensively the relationships between two of the nation’s most significant cultural contributions, according to Ferragamo Museum director Stefania Ricci, who served as the driving force behind the ambitious exhibition project.

In Florence’s Renaissance heyday, the connection between art and fashion was even tighter than it is today.

“In the 15th century, there was no difference between artisan and artist,” says Ricci, citing Raphael’s designs for hand fans and Pollaiuolo’s textile designs. “Then slowly the two worlds separated, because fashion was functional, the reality. Art became always more conceptual. But what is interesting is they always kept an eye one on the other.”

Artists were demonstrably inspired by fashion in the 1800s, as is evident in the linked event at the Modern Art Gallery of Pitti Palace. Ricci says featuring fashion of the day is a way for artists to convey modernity in their works, and curators have paired garments from the Costume Gallery with paintings that feature similar, if not identical, looks.