Moda — un dialogo fra Effimero ed Eterno
Fashion has always been a mirror of the times: it reflects social changes, collective desires, cultural tensions. But at the heart of this vibrant and constantly transforming phenomenon lies a fascinating paradox: its intrinsic impermanence. And it is precisely this aspect — the ephemeral beauty of fashion — that is the focus of the exhibition “Fashion. A Dialogue between the Ephemeral and the Eternal”, which opened on Wednesday 10 September at the Corals Gallery, with works by Matilde Piacentini, Valentina Fracassi and Paradiso Collective.
The title is no coincidence: the exhibition presents itself as a visual and conceptual journey through the profound bond between fashion and transience, between aesthetics and impermanence. A bond that has its roots in culture and literature, as in the celebrated dialogue between Fashion and Death in Giacomo Leopardi’s Operette morali, in which both figures recognise that they are daughters of the same mother: impermanence.
Drawing on this reflection, the three artists explore, each with different languages and materials, the theme of fashion as a poetic and at the same time transitory phenomenon.
Matilde Piacentini presents a series of works that blend influences from Dadaism, Surrealism and Rotella’s Pop Art. Her layered, collage-based images evoke the fragmentation of identity in the age of image and appearance. In “The Weight of Expectation”, for example, the artist reflects on the invisible burden of aesthetic and social standards, conveying a disillusioned yet powerfully empathetic image of the female body and its representation.
Valentina Fracassi, on the other hand, works with ephemeral materials such as leaves, paper and plant fibres, creating true “poetic textures”. In her works, inspired by classical and modern literature, words and materials merge into delicate webs that tell stories. Also on display is a new series of four poetic maps dedicated to the fashion capitals — Paris, Milan, London, New York — in which text and image physically intertwine, creating cartographic tapestries that speak of identity, language and memory.
Paradiso Collective, finally, brings to the gallery the site-specific installation “Breathe”: a modular textile ecosystem composed of hand-painted jute and cotton elements, sewn and folded into origami-inspired structures. The work invites contemplation, a slow and mindful breath in contrast with the urgency and speed typical of fashion. An invitation to pause, to observe, to reconnect with one’s inner self and with the present.
“Fashion. A Dialogue between the Ephemeral and the Eternal” is an exhibition that invites us to reflect on time, transformation and the contemporary obsession with the new. A tribute to beauty that escapes, to memory that fades, to the charm of things destined to change. Because every fashion, like every era, is destined to pass. But it is precisely in this passing that it finds its deepest meaning.
Exhibition project and curation Greta Zuccali
