Levi's heritage remade by 30 creatives in Milan denim show
Thirty designers, photographers and musicians based in Italy have pulled Levi's denim apart and rebuilt it on their own terms. Their work opened as "Voices of Denim" at Casa degli Artisti in Milan. The show was staged during Milan Fashion Week.
The exhibition closed a yearlong partnership between Levi's, the American denim company, and the Afro Fashion Association, the Milan-based organisation founded in 2015. That partnership was unveiled in February. It brought together 30 Black, Indigenous and people of colour creatives living and working in Italy, according to WWD.
The brief was open and personal. Each creative was asked to reinterpret Levi's heritage through their own cultural perspective and technical skill. The group works across fashion design, photography, styling, sound design, art, writing and illustration, videography and beauty.
Roots across the 30 talents include Nepal, Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Congo, Sri Lanka and Eritrea. Most are based in Italian cities. All were selected for the yearlong programme, which was planned from the start to end with a public exhibition during September's Milan Fashion Week, the city's twice-yearly showcase of new collections, as reported by WWD.
The results are physical and direct. One work is a sculpture based on an anatomy model, with muscles and spine wrapped in upcycled jeans, jeans remade from used material. Another is a patchwork denim set made from Levi's deadstock, unsold fabric left over from production, cut into heart shapes and stitched back together. The show also includes denim beach umbrellas, built for sun and sand rather than the street.
The exhibition was curated by Jordan Anderson. The Afro Fashion Association is led by founder and president Michelle Francine Ngonmo. Mariella Finiguerra is head of marketing for Italy and Iberia at Levi's.
What makes this stand out is the range. Denim is familiar to almost everyone. Here it moves from the body to the beach, from careful handwork to sound and image, and each piece carries a different starting point.
