Iconic fashion brands introduce new concepts for 2021
Prada
A room in the "China Cabinet” exhibition
Prada is presenting “China Cabinet,” an exhibition by artist Theaster Gates with the support of Fondazione Prada, which runs until May 23 at Prada Rong Zhai, a historic residence built in 1918 in downtown Shanghai.
The exhibition displays a body of Gates' ceramic work and reveals the link between his activities as a ceramist and those he performs as a visual artist, performer, professor, urban planner and social innovator. For “China Cabinet,” Gates conceived a story in three chapters that unfolds across several rooms on the building’s first floor. Over the course of this narrative, the installation evolves to portray the artist’s role from guest to interlocutor to host.
In the first chapter, as a guest, the artist presents the themes underlying his work in six display cases, where visitors can trace the elements that characterize his art — the reuse of materials and construction techniques, references to craftsmanship and spirituality, employment of the stereotype to depict African Americans, and the presence of archival material such as magazines, books, music and films that constitute Gates’ universe.
The second chapter of the show invokes the artist as an interlocutor. Here, Gates reveals the complexity of his relationship to ceramics. With a precise and clean presentation of his works distributed throughout the space, the artist makes it look like as if they are in an antique Chinese porcelain boutique. In another space, Gates shows the reconstruction of his potter’s workshop, aligning many plates, cups, bowls, vases and other utilitarian ceramics next to other artworks made using similar techniques.
The story culminates with Gates' complete occupation of the historic house with artworks displayed as they would be in a private home. In the end, the artist has transformed from a visitor into a generous host wishing to share the comfort and beauty of his carefully appointed residence with his guests.
Dates: Until May 23. Closed on Mondays.
Address: 186 North Shaanxi Road
Admission: 60 yuan
Swatch
Swatch's special edition designs at the Museum of Modern Art.
Swatch announced the launch of special edition designs with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as part of its Museum Journey series. The watches will be available at Swatch stores and MoMA Design Stores worldwide, as well as online at swatch.com, Tmall, JD.com and store.moma.org.
The watches feature six unique creations inspired by artworks in MoMA’s collection, including "The Starry Night" (1889) by Vincent van Gogh, "Hope, II" (1907-1908) by Gustav Klimt, "The Dream" (1910) by Henri Rousseau, "Composition in Oval with Color Planes 1" (1914) by Piet Mondrian, "The City and Design, The Wonders of Life on Earth, Isamu Kurita" (1966) by Tadanori Yokoo and "New York" (1968) by Tadanori Yokoo.
The watches can be purchased individually or as a collector’s edition. Swatch and MoMA developed a special box for the collector’s edition inspired by the Blade Stair, a prominent architectural feature of MoMA.
Swatch has also collaborated with artist Beatriz Milhazes on watches that feature three of her works from MoMA’s collection — "Suculentas Beringelas" (Succulent Eggplants) (1996), "O Espelho" (The Mirror) (2000) and "Meu Bem" (2008) — on the Swatch X You platform, which enables people to create their own customized watch styles on swatch.com and in select Swatch stores.
“We’re proud to continue MoMA’s ongoing relationship with Swatch through this new collection of watches inspired by artworks from MoMA’s collection," said Robin Sayetta, associate director of business development for MoMA. "MoMA’s commitment to good design as a part of everyday life is exemplified by Swatch watches.”
GUESS
GUESS' spring 2021 activewear collection
GUESS announced that social media icon, motivator and fitness advocate Jen Selter will be the face of the company's spring 2021 activewear advertising campaign.
Shot by fashion photographer Josh Ryan, the campaign was photographed at El Mirage Dry Lake in the United States. Selter is accompanied in the campaign by model Nic Palladino. The duo is photographed wearing clothes from the activewear collection.
The newest collection is dominated by a mixture of high-performance sports bras, leggings, tank tops and zip jackets in light-weight fabrics. Matching two-piece sports bra and legging sets in a variety of solid colors enable women to mix and match various tops and bottoms.
Cool-girl track jackets and pants in muted hues create an "athleisure" look. Each design in the spring activewear collection is made with fabrics that maximize functionality, performance and comfort.
The collection is available at www.GUESS.com and on GUESS’ social media platforms.
