Benetton goes on show in Antwerp

Benetton knitwear features in MoMu exhibition Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion


Ponzano, March 14, 2011 – MoMu, the renowned fashion museum in Antwerp, Belgium, has chosen Benetton knitwear among the main exponents of its exhibitionUnravel: Knitwear in Fashion, open 16 March to 14 August 2011.

A central element of its history, fashions, style and advertising over the past 40 years, Benetton's knitwear is presented in an installation of a mixture of colourful woollen clothes and accessories that were made for Benetton’s first fashion show at the Pompidou Centre, in occasion of the group’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

Next to international designers like Vivienne Westwood and Sonia Rykiel, legendary pieces of knitwear by Schiapparelli or Chanel, and avant-garde stylists on the international fashion scene like Sandra Backlund  and Maison Martin Margela, Benetton testifies to the global success of a democratic, colourful sweater that combines innovation with tradition.

In the exhibition, Benetton's traditional focus on wool, colour and sewing quality is reinterpreted and given new life. Particular attention is given to the movement and weave of yarns, conveying vitality and harmony, and on the optimistic use of pure colours which gladden the spirit. The effect is the projection of an idealistic faith in internationality and in the possibility of fashion as art.

“Forms and colours evoke pre-modern traditions from Japan to Scandinavia; vibrant reds, greens and turquoises are emphasized by their juxtaposition with neutral shades. The possibilities of wool – to stretch and morph and wrap in softness – are freely explored, and expanded by adventurous detailing. Silhouettes are exaggerated, hugging the body and masking it, making shadows unrecognizable” (*).

This story is told in Benetton’s space in a video which condenses, into a few seconds, over 40 years of innovation and success and mixes them with the groundbreaking advertising campaigns that anticipated the future of advertising and were justifiably taken up in the international cultural debate.

The Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion catalogue, published by Fashion Museum and Lannoo Publishers, showcases Benetton through articles and pictures taken from the group’s Archive in the former Castrette wool plant, today a centre of creative, aesthetic, commercial and technological excellence. As many as 12,000 historically significant articles of knitwear together with equipment, artefacts and a vast collection of catalogues, documents and advertising campaigns are housed here.

(*) Richard Mason,Benetton 40th Anniversary