Yves Saint Laurent did not hesitate to say that he would have liked to invent jeans. The most global garment, capable of resisting the passage of time and trends. A piece around which the Costume Museum organizes the exhibition ‘Jeans, from the street to the Ritz’, curated by Josep Casamartina i Parassols and Ismael Núñez Muñoz, from the Fundació Antoni de Montpalau.
Denim clothing is undoubtedly one of the most universal elements in contemporary fashion, especially from the second half of the 20th century. These garments transcend social class barriers throughout the world and, although they initially emerged as utilitarian garments for the working classes, over time they became a common item in all wardrobes, produced by specialized companies such as the pioneering Levi’s, founded in 1853, to the current ready-to-wear brands, including the most famous designers.
A journey through the history of denim fabric, from its origins as a material in the 18th century, through the birth of jean in the mid-19th century and its enormous expansion throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, to its infinite formal and textiles, but also symbolic and social.
The proposal includes more than two hundred pieces of clothing, accompanied by graphic documentation and accessories from the Fundació Antoni de Montapalu, completed with loans from private collections and the historical archive of the Lois brand, as well as from the companies Jeanología and Evlox. Among them, the garments from classic houses dedicated to making jeans such as Levi Strauss, Lee, Lois or Pepe Jeans stand out, but also from brands such as Cavalli, Armani, Kenzo, Paco Rabanne, Gloria Vanderbilt, Calvin Klein, Thierry Mugler, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino, Versace or Christian Lacroix, considered the contemporary designer who has developed a more solid and respectful look in the field of jeans.
And so that the public can make their own reflections, the exhibition begins with the introduction to the fabric known as ‘denim’, a cotton twill made with very resistant twisted threads, and to the origins of the industry, whose germ was not American factories. , but the Italian and French ones, especially those installed in Genoa – that’s where the name ‘jeans’ comes from – and Nimes – where the word ‘denim’ comes from – in the 17th and 18th centuries.
American cinema and Spanish factories
It was not until 1860 when Levi Strauss began to use twill fabric to make work clothes, then came its later symbolic association with the working class and later became a revolutionary icon of male ‘sex appeal’ or as a symbol of empowerment. female. A situation to which cinema contributed in the 40s and 50s. With John Wayne, Gene Kelly, Marlo Brando, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe.
In Europe, industries dedicated to denim clothing were established that would achieve great international dissemination. Spain was one of the most prominent producers, with companies in Valencia, Catalonia, Castilla la Mancha and the Basque Country, with the relevant Bergara factory, where legend locates the fabric that Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis used to create the first jeans. , in 1872.
Starting in the 1970s, the fashion world adopted ‘denim’. The industry advanced in the search for new horizons and gave rise to countless variations. Unfortunately, its popularity has had negative ecological consequences, which is why the exhibition addresses the search for sustainable alternatives for its production.
Data from ‘Jeans, from the street to the Ritz’
Date: November 24, 2023 to March 17, 2024
Organized by: Costume Museum. Ethnological Heritage Research Center. (Juan de Herrera Avenue, 2. Madrid)
Free entrance
#journey #time #global #garment