Bob Krieger Imagine . Living through fashion and music ‘60 ‘70 ‘80 ’90, featuring Krieger as the protagonist and through his shots immortalising stylists, top models and actresses, offers a vision on fashion and costume revealing the transformation of style and languages.
More than 200 photos are on stage in a location devoted to fashion. “Palazzo Morando in Milan fullfills its mission as a cultural Institute for fashion, costume and image through preservation, research and exhibitions, but also thanks to shows such as this one, bearing witness to a unique phase in fashion in its becoming” , Filippo del Corno, Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Milan says. Italian fashion spread throughout the world thanks also to great photographers and their work of mediation of creative thinking and social sense of an unmistakeable style.
The images are from Krieger’s private collection. Indeed, as curator Maria Grazia Vernuccio points out, “a few years ago I succeeded in getting him to open some suitcases, which, according to him, were filled with chaos”. And from this chaos this exhibition came to be. “We found extraordinary images, divine models wearing spectacular outfits, that had marked an era”.
They have been shot between the 1960s and the 1990s and include the advertising campaigns of the greatest Italian designers: Armani, Ferré, Missoni, Valentino, Versace, Biagiotti, Gucci, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana. And they testify the explosion of an unparalleled phenomenon: the boom of the Made in Italy in the world. “Italians are coming!” was the headline of Vogue America in 1976. It was the beginning of an era: the United States turned into a fertile land welcoming great Italian creative minds, providing also the recognition these artists deserve. From that moment on , Made in Italy would be considered a synonym for absolute excellence, uniqueness, quality. And Krieger, then author of three covers for the Time and a correspondent for the New York Times Magazine, was one of the protagonists of this incredible period.
“I’ve always tried not to impose my vision over the stylists’ work and I have always looked after their talent”, Krieger says. And doing so he paved the way for the excellence of Italian design, food and lifestyle.
“In the 1970s we invaded the United States and since then the world. I must say I also feel a bit part of this invasion, with Armani, Versace, Ferré and all the others, because we are all born together. The moment of glory was 1982, with the first cover of Time dedicated to Giorgio Armani. I worked with him for that cover. It was the first time an Italian stylist was on the cover of such an important weekly and it was a consecration, like a Nobel, fantastic!”, Bob Krieger recalls, adding “the show summarizes all my work, a work I couldn’t have done without the Italian stylists”.
Giorgio Armani on the show occasion writes: “It is cities that make men. The cities where they decide to live, work and essentially build a life that in some way ends up being similar to the place where it is lived. It was Milan that gave Bob his roots. This Milan offered him his first opportunity (…): a photo shoot for Mila Schön, forerunner, with Germana Marucelli, Biki and Jole Veneziani of a generation of fashion designers who from this metropolis would later conquer the world. (…) The first time we met, we were both inventing, day by day, a different way of working and of seeing (with completely new eyes) the present-day that Bob was busy immortalizing in his photographs”.And, according to the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala: “Krieger is an interpreter of his era for his ability to capture the soul and the remarkable achievements of great Milanese and Italian fashion, representing its identity and linking it to the historical context”.
The exhibition is promoted by the City of Milan| Cultura, Direzione Musei Storici under the patronage of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and organized by MGV Communication, with the staging project by Carlo Colombo. Catalogue published by Imago Art Strategies.
Paola Sammartano
Paola Sammartano is a journalist specialized in arts and photography based in Milan, Italy
BOB KRIEGER IMAGINE . Living through fashion and music ’60 ’70 ’80 ‘90
Until June 30, 2019
Palazzo Morando|Costume Moda Immagine
Via Sant’Andrea 6, Milano
Italy
www.civicheraccoltestoriche.mi.it
