Browns’ New Exhibit Makes Talent Like John Gallia

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It’s also striking how current so many of the pieces seem. A black silk dress with lace insets from Chloe s/s 1971,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], when Karl Lagerfeld designed the line, was one item I wanted to (lovingly) tear off the mannequin and change into,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], right in the middle of the exhibition floor. But then,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], all of the pieces beg to be worn with pride.
The iconic British boutique is marking its 40th anniversary with a multimedia fashion exhibition uniting photography, video,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], archival material and garments from its four decades in business.
Paolo Roversi photographed 40 Browns Ambassadors (a mix of designers and model/actor/musician friends of the store) modeling favorite pieces from the boutique’s history for a series of dreamy portraits,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], exhibited alongside mannequins dressed in the garments each subject chose to wear.
Take a look at some of the first images of the exhibition. Which pieces make you swoon?
There are portraits of Marc Jacobs in a dove gray ultrasuede Halston coat from 1972,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Claudia Schiffer wearing an Erdem babydoll dress from 2007,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and Gareth Pugh looking very Sasha Fierce in a jagged-necklined purple blazer and PVC trousers by Thierry Mugler. And then the mannequins–it’s satisfying to get a 360-degree look at the garments only hinted at in so many of the photos.
Browns founder Joan Burstein–affectionately known as Mrs. B–is famed for her keen eye for emerging talent. She championed John Galliano,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan when few other retailers were bold enough to take chances on the untested designers.
The entertaining captions serve as further evidence of Browns’ influential place in British fashion. A black silk shantung dress with gold-embroidered shoulder pieces from McQueen’s SS 2008 show comes to the exhibition “by kind loan courtesy of the honorable Daphne Guinness.”
Tonight,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 80 guests including Oscar de la Renta and Eva Herzigova will meander through the Browns: 40 Years of Fashion Innovation exhibition in London’s Soho. But during yesterday’s press preview,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], it was just Fashionista,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a clutch of set designers adjusting the lighting,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a team of caterers perfecting the non-alcoholic apple mojitos…and some seriously breathtaking clothes.
Mrs. B loaned pieces from her own wardrobe as well–her archive is so vast that she keeps a separate apartment below her penthouse, just for clothes.
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News Browns’ New Exhibit Makes Talent Like John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan More Alluring Than Ever By Emily Cronin Wednesday,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], May 12, 2010 / 5:00 PM GMT -5