Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations July 18, 2012

The Met's Spring 2012 Costume Institute exhibition, 'Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations,' explores the striking affinities between Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, two Italian designers from different eras. Inspired by Miguel Covarrubias's "Impossible Interviews" for Vanity Fair in the 1930s, the exhibition features fictive conversations between these iconic women to suggest new readings of their most innovative work. Iconic ensembles will be presented with videos of simulated conversations between Schiaparelli and Prada directed by Baz Luhrmann, focusing on how both women explored similar themes in their work through very different approaches. The exhibition will showcase approximately 90 designs and 30 accessories by Schiaparelli (1890-1973) from the late 1920s to the early 1950s and by Prada from the late 1980s to the present. Drawn from The Costume Institute's collection and the Prada Archive, as well as other institutions and private collections, signature objects by both designers will be arranged in seven themed galleries: "Waist Up/Waist Down," "Ugly Chic," "Hard Chic," "Naif Chic," "The Classical Body," "The Exotic Body," and "The Surreal Body."