Proenza Schouler presented a truly unique and aesthetically coherent social experiment on Thursday night, as they uprooted the best of New York’s underground talent and planted them in the picturesque hills on the outskirts of Florence.

 

Managing to blur the lines of art and fashion, Jack and Lazaro of Proenza Schouler [alongside Art Prodution Fund] successfully showed their Spring Summer 2010 pre collection without a single stitch of clothing being present – bar the accessories trapped in Haim Steinbach’s still life installation in the grand foyer of the Villa della Petraia. [below]

 

 

The party flowed through the main foyer and down the three terraced gardens of the 15^th century Medici Villa Della Petraia, with dramatic spotlights sweeping the night sky and the façade of the grand villa.

 

 

The evening saw the Proenza Schouler collection presented in three ways, the first being Haim Steinbach’s accessories installation, that greeted the audience as they entered the foyer of the villa. Stilettos, sandals, handbags, garlic bulbs, pom poms, [even a coiled spring bed frame] were arranged in geometric patterns that wove across a large white carpet, with a sense of both familiarity and tension between the household objects and the luxurious Proenza Schouler pieces. 

 

 

Upon arrival on the terrace, we were greeted by twelve 3-metre tall artist easels holding Kalup Linzy’s images of stunning American supermodel Liya Kebede wearing Proenza Schouler’s Pre-Spring 2010 collection. Intermingled with the images of Liya were those of Kalup himself, dressed as a woman and of course also in Proenza Schouler – thus conveying his own subverted aesthetic to what would have otherwise been a traditionally beautiful yet conservatively-constructed series. 

 

 

Kalup photographed Liya in classical renaissance poses for the occasion of Pitti Immagine, echoing the traditional art forms of Italy and of the tapestries and oil paintings found in and around renaissance sites such as the Villa Della Petraia.

This was an interesting contrast to the film that Linzy presented alongside the photographs entitled ‘fuck u’, continuing his personal exploration of gender, sexuality, identity and equality issues. Utilising American soap-opera techniques, Kalup  juxtaposed the beautiful vintage Americana aesthetic modern day reality of an african-american man in drag. 

Below is a still shot from the film:

 

 

As night fell, guests turned their attention to the bottom of the garden, where one might find fairies – but this time found demons instead! The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black filed one-by-one onto the tiered stage – their teased black wigs and candy striped minidresses a far cry from the fancy frocks of the Florence fashion crowd. Hiding behind dark glasses, lead singer Kembra Pfahler directed her troupe of dancers with robotic, alien dance moves along to her signature brand of satirical grungy rock. 

 

 

 

For this exclusive Florentine performance, the band enlisted members of the Florence Ballet to join their troupe, all wearing Proenza Schouler customised costumes [Kembra's was a piece from FW09]. Their dramatic flaming red eye makeup and blackened teeth were created by Massimiliano Della Magessa for MAC. The highlights of the set included a rendition of Celine Dion’s Titanic classic “My Heart Will Go On”, in which the girls held ocean wave props, and the closing sequence acted out like an beauty pageant award ceremony – each dancer receiving a black-dipped statue of Liberty trophy. It was truly a sight to behold, the brave act of Kembra Pfahler, Proenza Schouler and Art Production Fund transplanting such a grungy piece of underground New York culture to the conservative and traditional city of Florence.  

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rjnoBADgwo[/youtube]

 

As the performance was over and the formalities ended, it was time for the organisers and the artists to celebrate. The central terrace became the hot spot for dancing and crowd-watching, as DJ Spencer Sweeney hit the decks still in his Karen Black ruby red nun costume. Kembra tossed her black wig aside and came to party [still pink-skinned!] and handed around her Karen Black dolls to a lucky few [A MAGAZINE got one!]. A MAGAZINE #9 cover girl Chloë Sevigny partied with Jack and Lazaro and a bevy of their New York pals, celebrating their massive week of achievement and the close of several fulfilling yet exhausting projects!

 

 

 

 

all images by dan the scout [except kalup linzy film stills, courtesy of theimagist.com]