Huntsman
TAKES VENICE
Huntsman continues to deepen its connections with the art world, as the house co-hosted an intimate lunch for guests of the world famous Venice Biennale at the city’s Gritti Palace hotel, together with Sotheby’s and Tony Chambers, editor-in-chief of Wallpaper magazine.
With guests in attendance including designers Martino Gamper and Piergiorgio Robino of Studio Nucleo – who joined in a discussion on the fusion of art, style, and design - together with a clutch of Sotheby’s clients, Huntsman’s chairman Pierre Lagrange unveiled the house’s latest silk lining by a renowned artist. The house has collaborated with Italian artist Beatrice Caracciolo to replicate her famous work, “Pine Needles” on the silk lining for 11 limited edition bespoke huntsman jackets. The stark, black-and-white ink on paper works make a particularly striking statement inside Huntsman’s handsome suiting. The suits will be available to purchase for Sotheby’s private clients during the Venice Biennale.
Caracciolo was born in Brazil, studied in New York, and now lives and works in Paris. Her work spans painting, photography, and line drawings, with her pieces having been exhibited in revered institutions such as Paris’s Musée National d’Art Moderne and Centre Georges Pompidou.
Lagrange was inspired to collaborate with the artist after buying one of Caracciolo’s works in Beijing. And so taken was he with the resulting design, he wore his jacket inside out during the lunch, all the better to show off the lining.
Discussing this merging of art, design, and style, Lagrange told guests that “there’s no more boundaries in many ways. We did this wearable art project – is it design, is it art, is it tailoring? Provided it’s great and it’s going to last the time, that’s all that matters.”
11 bespoke jackets with Caracciolo’s lining will be offered to Sotheby’s preferred clients, and the sale of the jackets will benefit La Frontiera, Caracciolo’s Paris foundation to provide studio space to artists who couldn’t otherwise afford it.
Huntsman’s collaboration with Caracciolo is the latest in a series of Huntsman linings printed with artists’ works, allowing clients to express their artistic taste in a sartorial manner. The house has printed works such as René Magritte’s “Man in a Bowler Hat,” through to pieces by Francis Bacon and Tarquin Millington Drake inside its jackets, on a bespoke basis. And last year, Huntsman collaborated with Ed Ruscha, printing his work “Boy Meets Girl” inside only six bespoke Huntsman jackets. One of these was auctioned for $26,000 last year, benefitting America’s Alzheimer’s Association, with the remaining editions owned by Ruscha, his son Eddie, Lauren Hutton, Larry Gagosian and Pierre Lagrange.
Indeed, Ruscha likened the experience of having his work as a suit lining to “a concealed secret.” “There is a private luxury that only the wearer can experience,” he mused.
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