Roberto Cappucci at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

In addition to exploring Los Angeles during my Stay-Cation, I am also packing up to move to Philly for the summer. So I'll segueing into Philly-centric posts too. The first thing I want to do while there is go see the Roberto Capucci exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art! My mom sent me a few newspaper clippings about in. (You can click on the images of the News Journal article to enlarge them for easier reading.) Based on the pictures, my anticipation level is high. Capucci's dresses (like McQueen's - another exhibit I am looking forward to this summer) really close the gap between clothing and art. A woman who wore one of his dresses became a part of a sculpture. I wonder how it is even possible to make fabric into those shapes. Hopefully I will be able to snag a few photos up close while there that explain Capucci's construction. If you are anywhere close to Philly in the next few weeks, definitely make the effort to check this out. The exhibit closes on June 5th, and there's no telling when a Capucci exhibit will come back.

PS: My mom also sent me a fascinating article about the rise of fashion exhibits in fine art museums and whether that is appropriate. Since I have always loved these kinds of exhibits, it never even crossed my mind that they were controversial. The Philadelphia Museum's perspective on the whole issue?

"But Dilys Blum, the senior curator of costumes and textiles at the Philadelphia Museum, said she avoids shows where she worries that designers may curate their own exhibitions. 'We don't want to be an advertising vehicle for a brand,' she said. 'The best known designers are those whose space in fashion magazines is dictated by the amount of advertising they contribute. The public looks to them as arbiters of taste, but that taste is really skewed.'
Though Ms. Blum called Giorgio Armani 'a great couturier,' she said she would never do a show devoted to him, as the Guggenheim Museum did in 2000. 'My own preference is fashion as art,' Ms. Blum said. 'I like designers like Ralph Rucci, Issey Miyake or Azzedine Alaia, whose work transcends fashion.'"

The perspective of Dilys Blum certainly shows in her choice of Capucci. I only hope that she continues in her vision and has an Alaia exhibit next!