Schiaparelli - Fashion Becomes Art
Father was approached by design studio Nebbia to create the music and sound design for the Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art exhibition at the V&A South Kensington. The vision for the exhibition was to create something that surfaced themes which tied closely with Elsa Schiaparelli and her pioneering, surrealist approach to fashion. Those themes included déjà vu, material, and process.
Schiaparelli was a pivotal brand for fashion. Elsa’s work challenged the status quo and society’s views on how women should dress. Surrealism played a significant role in her work. She used materials such as tree bark and cellophane, and was constantly pushing her work forward. Our role within the exhibition was to create several scores that acted as a tonal tapestry, taking viewers through different spaces and using sound to unearth new themes and perspectives.
Our work was centred around materiality, déjà vu, and process. We recorded materials and processes, then started using these sounds as palettes to build compositions. For the déjà vu motif, we repeated a small section of music by Debussy, giving us a device that we could use throughout the show, something you sense you have heard before, but mixed into the scores so you cannot place exactly where it came from. Using sound to convey these feelings became central to the creative process and the outcome of our work.
We also wanted our work to react to its environment, making sure it understood its role amongst the other sensory elements within the exhibition. The outcome was a piece of music and sound that travelled with the audience, taking them on a journey whilst also touching on themes around Elsa Schiaparelli’s work.
Example a
Example B
