November 14, 2016
Gucci cruise 2017 campaign was photographed on the grounds of Chatsworth House
Hamish Bowles, Condé Nast-owned Vogue’s international editor at large, has curated an ambitious exhibition exploring 500 years of fashion, set to be held at Chatsworth House this coming March.
The largest exhibition to-date to be held at the stately home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, “House Style: Five Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth,” will tell of fashions worn by renowned style icons. House Style will be designed by Patrick Kinmonth and Antonio Monfreda, with Gucci serving as principal sponsor, as part of its ongoing cultural initiative with Chatsworth House (see story).
If these walls could talk
House Style will be organized throughout the rooms of one of the United Kingdom’s most well-known estates, Chatsworth House. Exhibitions displays will be placed within the Baroque home’s Painted Hall, chapel and State Music Room.
Displays will touch on art history, fashion, jewelry and archival material as well as design and textiles. Organized by theme, House Style’s subject matter includes Coronation Dress; The Devonshire House Ball; Bess of Hardwick and the Tudor influence; The Georgiana Effect; Ducal Style; Country Living; The Circle of Life and Entertaining at Chatsworth.
Also telling the story of international style and the Devonshire Collection will be captivating individuals. The exhibition will illuminating the power of fashion through its inclusion of the “Empress of Fashion” Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire, Deborah Devonshire and Nancy Mitford, two of the Mitford sisters, model Stella Tennant and Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, sister of John F. Kennedy, among others.
Influential garments on display include couture designs by Jean Philippe Worth and Christian Dior and contemporary pieces by Gucci, Helmut Lang, Margiela, Erdem, Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane and Vetements.
House Style: Five Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth's Coronation Dress display
In addition to principal sponsor Gucci, House Style is possible through the support of C W Sellors Fine Jewelry, Investec, Sotheby’s and Wedgwood.
“Chatsworth is unlike anywhere else in the world,” said Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele in a statement. “A place full of charm, history and rituals. It is a piece of England, of Europe and the contemporary world all at the same time.
“You can see history everywhere, yet everything in alive,” he said. “This exhibition proves how much historical objects are an incredible source of inspiration for creating the present.
“Thus far the house has been speaking, now House Style gives a voice to the wardrobes of its inhabitants and guests.”
To commemorate the ambitious exhibition, publishing house Rizzoli will publish a 200-page tome of fashion at Chatsworth House over the last 500 years.
“House Style: Five Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth,” will include a foreword by the Duke of Devonshire, an introduction by the Countess of Burlington as well as essays by Vogue’s Mr. Bowles, Sarah Mower and Lady Sophia Topley, among others. Featured photography includes images captured by Cecil Beaton, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, Tim Walker, Mario Testino and Ellen von Unwerth, in addition to personal photos from the Devonshire’s personal albums.
The exhibition at Chatsworth opens March 25 and will conclude in October 2017. Ticket information can be found here.
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