12 dresses, 7 designers: renewing The Dressed Body

At the end of 2014 the permanent fashion exhibit at the Design Museum of Barcelona was inaugurated at the new Glòries building: El Cos Vestit, Siluetes i Moda (The Dressed Body, Silhouettes and Fashion). Three years on, the exhibit is being renewed and expanded to give greater visibility to more contemporary fashion ranging from the 90s to the present.

To celebrate this renewal, a meeting was arranged between fashion designers, industry press and influencers from the sector to find out about the new additions. Amongst those in attendance were designers such as Teresa Helbig, Krizia Robustella, Miriam Ponsa, Txell Miras, Elisabet Carlota and Elisenda Oms; journalists Laura Sangrà and Maria Almenar and bloggers Ariadna Alcañiz and Henry Ribas, amongst others. But what novelties did they discover?

The collection has seen 12 new dresses and 7 new designers added to show how “the history of fashion is written by compression, liberation and the reduction and expansion of the body” in the words of Sílvia Ventosa, who commissioned the exhibit.

Ariadna Alcañiz, from the blog Dolcecity, pointed out how “contemporary style has arrived at the Design Museum with a strong presence from 080 Barcelona Fashion”. Following this, the dress “Al·legoria”, by CarlotaOms (Spring/Summer 2016) has been added, which presents the “idea of androgynous fashion that promotes the creation of clothes for any gender”, explains Coralí Pagès of online magazine Núvol.

"Transhumància", by Miriam Ponsa, is one of the new additions. Created using 100% non-twisted wool, this dress is a clear reference to the world of shepherding. This very traditional slant can also be found in the dress “España” by Sybilla (1992), which was the result of a creative process in which more than four artisans took part.

As summarised by the blog Barcelona Fashion Press on the new El Cos Vestit exhibit, “new designs have been added in which significant pieces of Spanish fashion can be seen”. You can see the whole synthesis by visiting El Cos Vestit, Siluetes i Moda exhibit and stay up to date with the latest news and comments on social media at #elcosvestit.