Impossible Conversations

Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations: The spring 2012 exhibition organized by The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The exhibition, on view from May 10 through August 19, 2012 (preceded on May 7 by The Costume Institute Gala Benefit), explores the striking affinities between these two Italian designers from different eras.

Inspired by Miguel Covarrubias’s “Impossible Interviews” for Vanity Fair in the 1930s, curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton originate fictive conversations between these iconic women to suggest new readings of their most innovative work.

In the galleries, iconic ensembles are presented with videos of simulated conversations between Schiaparelli and Prada, and explore how the women reconciled binary oppositions in their work to advance fashion.