In our final recap of the events of Pitti Immagine fashion trade show in Florence in June, we present a documentary behind the scenes at Villa della Petraia, in the lead up to Proenza Schouler’s fabulous event showcasing their Pre-Spring collection 2010.

Watch as Kembra Pfahler directs her Florence ballet dancers for last-minute auditions in the gardens, witness Haim Steinbach’s precision as he constructs an installation of Proenza Schouler accessories in the foyer, and walk with Art Production Fund’s Yvonne Force Villareal as she places Kalup Linzy’s photographs against the villa’s façade.

Then watch as evening falls and the beautiful people come out to play,  with exclusive footage of the evening’s proceedings including the devilish performance by The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black and the dramatic genius of Kalup Linzy.

The video also contains an interview with Jack and Lazaro of Proenza Schouler as they discuss the curation of the event, providing further insight into the multi-faceted multimedia collaboration.

All footage is brought to you courtesy of Pitti Immagine.

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]

Members of Art Production Fund sit with Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler at Palazzo Tournabuoni.

Dan The Scout joined an exclusive meeting of international press and guests this morning in the stunning Palazzo Tournabuoni in Florence, for the press conference of Proenza Schouler and their involvement with Pitti Immagine fashion trade fair and the launch of A MAGAZINE CURATED BY Proenza Schouler.

Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez [the designers behind Proenza Schouler] spoke about their creative world, and the powerhouse of people and talent that has come together here at Pitti, for “collaboration that creates vision without compromise”[1].

As the guest designers of Pitti Woman, Proenza Schouler will unveil their highly anticipated pre-collection event this evening at the Villa della Petraia, in a multi-format creative landscape where fashion, film, music and art collide. 

The event is orchestrated under the co-direction of Art Production Fund, the celebrated New York-based non-profit contemporary art foundation. APF have provided a powerful link to harmonious artistic resources and people in the United States, tying in the concept of ‘Made in the USA’ encapsulating Proenza’s position as the first American curators of A MAGAZINE CURATED BY, and their first collection event outside the United States at Pitti Immagine.

The event will involve a screening of two new films by Kalup Linzy, the New York based artist whose soap-operatic aesthetic is translated into a short piece featuring A Magazine #9 cover girl Chloë Sevigny and supermodel Liya Kebede. Liya also features in a display of Kalup’s photography, wearing Proenza Schouler pre-spring 2010 in a series of renaissance-style poses.

Proenza Schouler will also present a world first “unplugged” live performance by Kembra Pfahler and her fetishistic theatrical horror-rock group The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. Their controversial on-stage antics and darkly feminine goth aesthetic exemplifies the true clash of alternate worlds aligned by Lazaro and Jack, and their continuous dialogue on the concept of femininity and its representation in art and fashion.

The final component will be an art installation by Haim Steinbach, the celebrated New York artist who’s pristinely ordered consumerist installations present social commentary on consumer culture by using the literal platform of a shelf to display specific collections of common objects. Tonight he will take the CFDA award winning accessories collection of Proenza Schouler and engage them in a strategic game plan against everyday objects in the courtyard of the Villa della Petraia.

Following the press conference of Proenza Schouler @ Pitti, Dan the Scout spent a few minutes with Jack and Lazaro to discuss their experiences with A MAGAZINE CURATED BY.

On their CFDA Accessory designer of the year award, Pitti and A#9 launch all in the same week:

Lazaro Hernandez – [CFDA’s] that was on Monday, Yeah it’s amazing how this has happened all at once, it has been a crazy week, there’s been meetings and friends and family…

Jack McCullough – We’re really excited, when it rains it pours!

L – Yeah, we started the week off with a hangover, bad idea, and kind of throws off the whole thing!

On their experience with A#9:

L – We have really poured our hearts and souls into it for the past year. We loved it, it is unusual to be given a project like this and to be just told “go for it”.

J – We have been working on it really hard for a long time… we’ve called in favours from lots of friends and amazing people…

L – We really wanted to create a magazine with text, with content – something we can look back on and see where we were at that moment, what our friends were doing.

On the Americana influence:

L – We are really inspired by Donald Judd. Donald Judd and Dan Flavin, that whole post-minimalist 1970s movement, with Judd – the idea that this one guy created this whole world in Marfa [Texas, the series of buildings Judd recreated on permanent display, alongside examples of his minimalist structural art installations].

On the creative advertising in A#9:

Jack – Lazaro photographed the Swarovski campaign, he is a photographer now! [laughs]

Lazaro – Yeah we wore lots of different hats to make this magazine…

On cover girl Chloë Sevigny:

J – She is a muse, as well as a great friend. Such a distinct personal style.

L – Chloë is the kind of girl who is not afraid to take risks, she always looks fantastic and individual.

J – she stands apart from the ‘cookie-cutter’ fashions of America. Or the ‘biscotti-cutter’ style here in Florence!

On who they would like to see curate the next A#10: The three ‘R’s!

Laz – I would really like to see what Rei [Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons] would do . Also Raf [Simons].

Jack – And Rick Owens. He really has his own world, with the furniture… have you seen his house? So great.

Keep following as we bring you coverage of tonight’s PROENZA SCHOULER SPECIAL GUEST OF PITTI W event.