It'd be damn near impossible to avoid the Met Gala buzz today, but in lieu of exclusively focusing on who's wearing what - like the Vogue ladies in pink, Kate Upton and her boobs in Michael Kors - let's instead take a moment to head inside the actual Metropolitan Museum's exhibit, “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations."
But let's not confuse the late Elsa Schiaparelli's reincarnation by Costume Institute curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton for a solute to Miuccia Prada's solvent - she is very much alive through her classic "circus collection" of 1938, which stands alongside Prada's recent Carmen Miranda show, Suzy Menkes contends. But this isn't Schiap's only reincarnation - the attention from this year's Met Gala has inarguably ignited interest of the brand, pushing owner Diego Della Valle to announce a formal revival. Though no designer has been announced for the project (we'll have to wait until September for the appointment), Farida Khelfa, who will don vintage Schiaparelli tonight, will serve as the brand's spokesperson.
“The idea with Schiaparelli is to propose the brand with all its modernity, and represent dreams, art and all the most sophisticated things we can do,” Della Valle told WWD. “This brand doesn’t have to get involved in the frenetic world of numbers, accounts and dimensions, but it just has to express itself at its best. The heart of this project will be the Parisian maison in Place Vendôme, in the original location where the first atelier was.”
But Schiaparelli, who played rival to Gabrielle Chanel at the turn of the century, isn't the only icon of honor tonight. The venerable Miuccia Prada not only promised to be choosey about who she outfits tonight, but she famously voiced her reservations about the exhibit, saying "it is other people's visions," but it turns out she may not have to show at all tonight after an unfortunate shoe-related incident. Menkes said yesterday that Miuccia was resting at the Carlyle hotel "after falling her off her high-rise platform shoes (and debating whether she would be able to join the Vogue editor Anna Wintour at the Met’s red carpet gala)." Though we hope for her speedy return to the red carpet, let's take a look at the exhibit honoring both she and Elsa Schiaparelli, as photographed by WWD's Kyle Ericksen.
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