Futurist fashion show. Sunday, July 4 - 3.30 pm

Sunday, July 4 - 3.30 pm

Winding down the exhibit The Universe of Futurism, this last weekend closes with the spectacular show Futurist Fashion Today. Fundación Proa has invited to the event Professor Andrea Saltzman (FADU-UBA), along with her Fashion Design course, to reflect on Futurist fashion. The product of this proposal is a fashion show with work from more than 400 students from the course’s first, second and third years.

The show Futurist Fashion Today works on the concept of movement and the revolutionary ideas set forth in the Futurist fashion manifesto, published in 1914. From a contemporary vision, this work, which focuses on historical material, actualizes and expands on the most significant aspects of fashion design and the relevance of body language. Fashion accompanies life; it serves as a document of an era.

The show presents four subjects of investigation and work:
− tight-fitting dresses with the stamping style of Futurist motifs;
− redefining the meaning of the masculine suit; questioning the concepts of severity, providing comfort, identity and flexibility;
− urban nomadism and transformable clothing, adaptable to different contexts and based on the revaluation of the idea of playfulness;
− movement; dancing suits with kinetic effects.

The show is conceived as an integrated tour through Proa’s different galleries, intervening in the exhibition to create a sense of the movement and spatial dynamism of Futurism.

The class has invited the contemporary musician Carlos Campos, who will open the event with music influenced by Luigi Russolo’s Noisism, while DJ Felipe Zamorano Graffigna accompanies the fashion show echoing the concept of the Futurist sound.

To document the event, students from Eduardo Feller’s course in the Course of Studies of Image and Sound Design (FADU – UBA) have been invited to make a final video.

With the show Futurist Fashion Today, Proa closes a cycle of diverse activities (in the fields of music, cinema, and academic and educational events) related with the exhibition The Universe of Futurism. On this occasion, the association with Saltzman’s and Feller’s courses at FADU-UBA accomplishes the objective of relating the Foundation’s cultural projects with educational institutions, deepening this relationship and collaborating with artistic education across various disciplines.

Andrea Saltzman's Fashion Design and Textile Course
Since 2003, the Fashion Design course offered by the Department of Architecture, Design and Urbanism (University of Buenos Aires) – and headed by Andrea Saltzman – develops exhibits and annual fashion shows with the students’ works.
In 2009, the course’s students presented their designs in the exhibit “Proyecto Pieles” (or “Skins Project”), at the Architecture Museum, in coordination with the International Textile Art Biennial.
On this occasion, Fundación Proa has invited the class to integrate their works with the exhibition The Universe of Futurism. 1909 – 1936, intervening in the expository spaces with a show created by the students.

Andrea Saltzman
Completed joint studies in contemporary dance, visual arts and architecture (UBA, 1983). Her work focuses on the exploration of the body and its relation with the medium as a point of departure for design.
In 1989 she started the first Fashion and Textile Design course, opening the way to the creation of a new field of study in the Department of Architecture, Design and Urbanism at the University of Buenos Aires, of which she is currently the senior professor. She also worked in the creation of the first Associates Degree in Clothing Production in the city of Buenos Aires.
Since 1989 she has been developing exhibits and fashion shows linked to her academic work, participating in seminars and congresses, and leading workshops in Argentina and abroad.
She has written for various publications, books and specialized magazines. She is the author of the book “El cuerpo diseñado”, or “The designed body” (2004, Paidos).   
In 2000 she won a scholarship from the National Endowment for the Arts to investigate project methodology in fashion design.
As a curator, her stand-out exhibits on art and design include “Moda!”  (Foundation Proa, 2003), “Hábito Malba” (2003), “Transitando” (for Nike, 2004), “El cuerpo diseñado” (Recoleta Cultural Center, 2006), and “Proyecto Pieles” (Museum of Architecture, International Textile Art Biennial, 2009).

Idea, concept and organization: Andrea Saltzman's Fasion Design and Textile Course / FADU - UBA
Music: Carlos Campos / DJ Felipe Zamorano Graffigna
Video: Eduardo Feller's Audiovisual Design Course / FADU - UBA
Production: Fundación Proa

* Photos: Gonzalopepe