Bonaveri Magazine

How to translate Fashion into a conceptual
narrative. And the didactic one, because I am
essentially an academic.
Exhibiting fashion in a museum...
I have a huge challenge, but I think that the
mannequins are our point of identification. So
people identify with bodies, we understand
dress because of the body. The mannequin
plays a huge role in an exhibition.
I know that also Andrea Bonaveri is interested in
the history of mannequins and so our exchange
is not that I say to Andrea “I want a mannequin
in blue”, no, I say to him “I am doing a project
that has this gesture, that needs to remember
this… As I was saying before, for the Lanvin
project in Shanghai I wanted the mannequin to
be resonant with the present, so still a calicocovered
Schläppi but I also wanted the gesture
to be exactly the same as the gesture that the
mannequin had in 1925.
Andrea understood that immediately and
they cast the exact pose from 1925. So it
was a contemporary mannequin but with a
historic pose, which for me is conceptually
very important. There is always some historical
element inside it.
Do you conserve all your materials, custommade
mannequins and props?
I’ve kept everything, I always keep all the
props, I have a huge storage facility. Because
eventually I want to show everything again, but
I have to decide how to do that. I am working
on a big project, which links different strands of
my work in new ways. I can’t reveal more. I don’t
still know where it will be.
Besides this big secret project, what are you
working on?
I am putting the finishing touches on an
exhibition at Poldi Pezzoli museum in Milano
that is going to open late February during Milano
Fashion Week. Basically it is an experimental
exhibition, with bespoke mannequins and bust
forms covered with calico.
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Judith Clark has collaborated with Bonaveri in four
exhibitions over the last 4 years – 5 including the
current one at Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milano.
Here are the timeline and mannequins specifications.
The common thread – and landmark - of Judith Clark
work and touch is the calico fabrics covering for the
mannequins.
2015 on: Galerie Asnières, Louis Vuitton home in
Asnières-sur-Seine near Paris: Bonaveri supplied 30
bespoke female Schläppi mannequins that featured
gold inlay neck and waist caps, some with articulated
lime wood arms and hands, others with matching lime
wood heads. All of the carefully crafted pieces were
covered with a fine raw calico giving the articulated
mannequins a soft and feminine feel.
2016-2017: “The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined”,
Barbican Art Gallery, London (October 2016 -
February 2017): 2200/3000 Schläppi mannequins
were customised with a calico fabric.
2018: “Fashion Inside and Out”, “Homo Faber”, San
Giorgio Maggiore Island, Venice (14-30 September
2018): Bespoke Schläppi 2200 and fully articulated
mannequins. The Schläppi 2200 female mannequins
have been covered in a special calico fabric to
compliment the garments, hats and accessories
on display. The series of straw hats was created by
Angelo Seminara. Bonaveri has also exhibited three
fully articulated mannequins set up in swimming
poses adorned with special ‘water splash’ headwear
designed and made by Stephen Jones.
2019 - 2020: “Dialogue: 130 years of Lanvin”
Shanghai (December 7 2019 – February 9 2020):
Bonaveri created bespoke Schläppi 2200 standing
and seated mannequins, covered in fine calico with
raw wood articulated arms and hands. The 2200
collection has a long pedigree with haute couture
fashion and the Schläppi collection as a whole has
been a favourite of Lanvin’s for some time.
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