Who stole the Wallace Collection? It has vanished under a cocoon of white, behind which you can hear drilling as builders repair the front of the building. The white cocoon is quite a contrast to the rich interiors inside with its amazing collections of furniture, painting, sculpture, armour, clocks and other object.
One of the fascinations of great collections of art, if you are a follower of fashion, is looking in the portraits at how fashions have changed over the centuries, as richly-dressed men, women and children with their highly elaborate shoes gaze down at today’s visitors who may be casually dressed in t-shirts, jeans and trainers. Where did it all go wrong?
Footwear designer Manolo Blahník has brought modern fashion design into the historic rooms with his luxurious, decadent footwear created in his workshop in Milan placed against paintings and objects with which they have a stylistic synergy in the exhibition ‘An Enquiring Mind’.
A fascinating pairing of fashions of different periods. My only complaint is that the shoes are all, as far as I could see, for women….
Manolo Blahník