ETRO – GENERATION PAISLEY

September 23th – October 14th, 2018

Place and time, roots and culture. Etro is an organic experience, a sedimentation of ideas, signs and experiences shaping the objects of everyday life. Each garment and accessory is the result of a satisfied curiosity, of an understanding of feelings. It is the result of an anthropological research and it implies a visionary and conscious point of view. Our adventure begins with the production of textiles and evolves with the creation of a fashion style with a strong identity. The Paisley motif – the date palm shoot, “The Tree of Life”, originating from Mesopotamia and recognized as a symbol of fertility and longevity – becomes a pillar of Etro’s entire work, thus making it unique. The Museum of Cultures in Milan was an easy choice to celebrate Etro’s first 50 years, as it shares the same spirit: the vocation for nomadism and an open attitude towards the wonders of the world. The MUDEC will host ‘Generation Paisley’, which will launch on 22nd September 2018 and will be open to the public with free entry from 23rd September to 14th October. The exhibition will be imaginative and articulate: the leafy branches of a giant tree will welcome the visitor, while a sort of dorsal spine will spiral through the 5 rooms uninterrupted, overcoming boundaries, building an analogic and stylistic path comprised of 50 outfits from the different collections. The whole operation will result in an extremely absorbing experience. Amidst walls covered in fabrics, paintings, mirror reflections that multiply and amplify, digital and three-dimensional effects, the visitor will be immersed in an atmosphere that is estranging and familiar at the same time. An emotional kaleidoscope that underlines how for Etro the cultural element is the founding principle and fashion is existential sensibility and content, not just form.
Many items on display belong to the personal collections of members of the Etro family. Great travellers and intellectuals, each one of them is animated by a different passion. In complete harmony with the MUDEC, and following the idea of an infinite wuderkammer, we have also imagined possible interactions between these precious objects and those already present in the museum’s collection, thus constructing a productive dialogue that symbolically erases boundaries, giving space to sensibility and the heart.