Walter Albini – Il talento, lo stilista

Museo del Tessuto di Prato has created a major exhibition dedicated to the creative genius of the famous fashion designer Walter Albini.

The exhibition, curated by Daniela Degli’Innocenzi and Erica Morini, offers a reinterpretation of the entire professional career of a leading figure in Italian fashion between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. It is born out of long research conducted by the curators, with the aim of outlining a portrait of the designer, who is, for many, almost unknown.

For the first time, the exhibition places graphic materials—drawings, sketches, photographs, fashion magazines, and archival documents—alongside a great many clothes, accessories, and fabrics that have often never been exhibited before, thus allowing the entire creative history of Albini to be reconstructed, from his first experiences as an illustrator and fashion designer to his last collections of the 1980s.

The starting point for the realization of the project was the Museo del Tessuto’s Walter Albini Collection, acquired thanks to a conspicuous donation by Paolo Rinaldi, Albini’s collaborator, received between 2014 and 2016: a patrimony that includes more than 1,700 objects, including bijou, sketches, drawings, photographs, documents, books, clothes, and fabrics that belonged to the fashion designer, documenting his interests, creativity, and great design ability.

Gian Paolo Barbieri was invited to participate in the exhibition with two photographs taken for the great designer in 1971 and 1972.