Gianfranco Ferré.
Under Another Light:
Jewels and Ornaments

Ferré always had a passion for ornamentation – a passion inseparably linked to his fashion collections and significantly determined by an enthusiastic and often innovative approach never inferior to the one he took in designing clothes. The objects on display, created for fashion shows dating from 1980 to 2007, tell a story that is complementary to the clothing and related accessories. Yet they are exhibited together with designs where it is precisely the jewel material that invents and shapes the dress, becoming its substance and soul. In this case, too, Gianfranco Ferré’s attention to materials is determinant, an essential part of his research. The exhibition project – ideated by architect Franco Raggi – plays upon the contrast between the Hall of the Senate of Palazzo Madama, a place of immense architectural value, and the simple, minimalist structures in iron and glass of the exhibition set-up. Thus, highlighted is the imaginative beauty of the jewels designed by Ferré, which seem to soar in the semi-darkness.