Moda in volo alle Uccelliere Farnesiane (Fashion in Flight at Uccelliere Farnesiane)

From 24 April 2024 at the Farnese Aviaries on the Palatine Hill, the exhibition “RARA AVIS. Fashion in flight” with the curatorship of Sofia Gnoli and the organization and promotion of the Colosseum Archaeological Park.

Clothes and accessories, unique examples of haute couture from the archives of the most famous fashion houses in the world, are exhibited in the Farnese Aviaries, one of the most symbolic places of Renaissance and Baroque Rome, set in the Farnese Gardens of the Palatine, the first botanical garden in the world, commissioned in the sixteenth century by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. The exhibition itinerary winds through the two pavilions and is divided into three sections: The Myth, Kaleidoscopic Visions and The WINGS, irreALI, reALI. The winged imagination of the ‘mythical’ Anna Piaggi.

“The new exhibition scheduled, even more than in other cases, confirms the desire of the Colosseum Archaeological Park to enliven its important architectural complexes with cultural events that draw their inspiration from the genius loci, in dialogue with the creative energies that progressively emerge from civil society. A succession of extraordinary bird-dresses and feathered accessories animates, in fact, on the Palatine Hill, the Farnese Aviaries“, explains Alfonsina Russo, Director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park. “Great attention has been paid not only to the choice of objects, but also to the setting up of the exhibition, which is immersive with projections of an idyllic landscape, the sounds and noises of nature for the aviary that houses the Kaleidoscopic Visions section and the simulation of thunder and lightning in the other for the Myth section“.

The section dedicated to the “Myth” and the divine, ‘populated’ by white, black and gold bird-clothes, opens with a tribute to Giovanni Gastel and his shot Zeus in the form of a swan and Leda (1990).

These are some of the wonders that can be admired: the majestic white swan dress, a tulle foam completed by white wings by Maria Grazia Chiuri for Christian Dior (Cruise, 2022); the black swan dress, which brings to mind Odile from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (autumn-winter 1997 haute couture); the organza corset dress, entirely embroidered with rooster and pheasant feathers, from the Florence 2020 Collection by Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda; the long black dress, garnished on the back with a cascade of kaleidoscopic feathers by Thierry Mugler (haute couture fall-winter 1997); the golden micro-dress, in metal mesh and huge wings of ostrich feathers designed by Donatella Versace specifically for Katy Perry and shown off by her on the red carpet of the MET Gala in 2018; the exclusive look created by Alessandro Michele for Gucci with 3D crystal embroidery and worn by Florence Welch, at the 2019 MET Gala, as well as the outfit, with parrot bolero, of Jean-Paul Gaultier’s first haute couture show (fall-winter 1997). A special place also deserves the “Victory of the hummingbird” dress, designed specifically for “Rara Avis” by Tiziano Guardini, made of non-violent silk and dedicated to the theme of sustainability.

A section is then dedicated to Anna Piaggi’s “avian” accessories from her personal collection, including a cage bag with canaries and hats by Schiaparelli and Philip Treacy.