The Savile Row tailors and the auctioneers have been working together on a project that brings art and style together in beautiful fashion – and they unveiled some of the fruits of their teamwork in Venice at the end of last week.
A work by Italian artist Beatrice Caracciolo is being used for the silk lining of 11 limited edition bespoke Huntsman jackets. The jackets won't be sold publicly, but will instead be offered to Sotheby's private clients at the Venice Biennale, the international art exhibition held in the city every other year and which runs between now and November.
Caracciolo is based in Paris, and has works on display in places including the Pompidou Centre; 'Pine Needles', a striking black-and-white image, is one of her most famous works. Proceeds from the sale of the jackets will go to La Frontera, Caracciolo's own charity, which provides studio space to struggling but talented artists.
"There’s no more boundaries in many ways," said Pierre Lagrange of Huntsman.
"Is it design, is it art, is it tailoring? Provided it’s great and it’s going to last the time, that’s all that matters.”
It's not the first time that Huntsman has combined art and tailoring: previously they have made jackets using works by Rene Magritte, Francis Bacon and Ed Ruscha.
One of Ruscha's jackets – lined with his work 'Boy Meets Girl' – sold for $26,000 at auction last year, all of which went to the American Alzheimer's association. No doubt Caracciolo will be hoping for a similar success from her collaboration with Huntsman.
Ruscha himself has spoken of the appeal of the arty jacket lining, and likened the experience to, “a concealed secret... There is a private luxury that only the wearer can experience."
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