TAMPERE, Finland -Fantastica! – Valentino Dresses from Private Collections is an exhibition celebrating high fashion and showcasing Valentino dresses on loan from private collections, alongside the artful handicraft and unique know-how behind them. The fame of Valentino’s fashion house has been made possible by Italian craftspeople. The skills of these weavers, dressmakers, and embroidery experts are beyond compare, and the exhibition shines a spotlight particularly on Pino Grasso’s incredible works of embroidery.

 In addition, the exhibition features Johnny Moncada’s photographs of Valentino’s dresses from the 1960s. They are a peerless mix of art and fashion that captures the spirit of the time with elegance and style.

 Visitors to the exhibition have a unique opportunity to enjoy the intricate detail of Valentino’s impressive fashion creations from close up and admire garments that are crafted with a jeweller’s precision and that are beautiful enough to have earned Valentino – the greatest fashion designer of our time – the moniker ‘the last emperor of fashion’.

Italy’s Valentino Garavani (born in 1932) is one of the world’s best-known fashion designers, and the fashion house bearing his name is one of the most important. The hallmarks of his work are gorgeous evening dresses and the colour red, in a tone known as rosso Valentino, Valentino red.

The exhibition at Museum Milavida in Tampere showcases dazzling dresses and puts the fruit of centuries of handicraft tradition in the spotlight.

The exhibition will be displayed at Museum Milavida on 15 June – 15 October 2017. On Wednesday, 14 June, a press conference was being attended by the exhibition’s curator, Cornelia Bujin, member of the exhibition team Hannu Palosuo, Pino Grasso, the ‘grand old man of couture embroidery’, whose atelier has been favoured by many haute couture fashion houses, Valentina Moncada, daughter of legendary fashion photographer Johnny Moncada and Milavida’s curator Mari Lind.

The Museum Milavida opened its doors at Tampere’s magnificent palace Näsilinna in 2015. It always hosts two exhibitions at a time. The main exhibition chronicles the colourful history of the von Nottbeck family, who were influential factory-owners in Tampere, while the changing exhibitions focus on themes related to fashion and design.

http://museomilavida.fi/en/museum-milavida/

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