Fanatic Feelings exhibition at Santa Maria Novella

On the occasion of Pitti Immagine Uomo 94, the Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery is holding the Fanatic Feelings – Fashion Plays Football exhibition, curated by Markus Ebner, founder of German fashion magazines Achtung Mode and Sepp Football Fashion, and contemporary art critic Francesco Bonami. 

“Fanatic Feelings is the third part of the three-year cooperation program between the Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery and the Museo della Moda e del Costume di Palazzo Pitti,” commented Andrea Cavicchi, president of the CFMI and the Fondazione Pitti Discovery. “We share the idea of a fashion museum that reaches throughout the city with Eike Schmidt, director of the Gallerie degli Uffizi, and this is why—in concert with the curators and thanks to the City of Florence—we chose another interesting venue other than Palazzo Pitti. Through the foundation’s projects we want to go beyond investing in the Museo della Moda’s traditional home and contribute to developing it into an international brand.”

Through a broad multimedia presentation, the show highlights the pioneering impact football has had on the world of men’s fashion igniting the fusion of tailoring and sportswear early on. With the World Cup 2018 held in Russia and Eastern European aesthetics currently dominating contemporary fashion, the exhibition is a timely one.

Designers create football team uniforms or entire collections inspired by the sport, footballers take front row seats at fashion shows or even star as models in campaigns. The show includes Karl Lagerfeld and Hiroshi Tanabe illustrations of famous soccer players and an extensive look into the rich Sepp Football Fashion archives from 2002 to 2018 featuring players such as Kaka, Edinson Cavani, Jérôme Boateng or Mesut Özil. The show also features screenings of Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, a documentary by artists Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno.

A project room curated by Undici magazine is dedicated to celebrating the history, elegance, tradition and values of Italian football, in a moment that also marks a new start for the football system on the 120th anniversary of the Italian Football Federation: unique images, videos, interviews and cult objects that have left an indelible mark on the history of “Gli Azzurri” – the Italian national football team.

The exhibition uses photos to discover #YOOXSOCCERCOUTURE, the YOOX project developed in partnership with Sepp, which brought together, on the occasion of the Football World and European Cup competitions held in recent years, a team of international designers for an exclusive capsule collection of sweatshirts and t-shirts inspired by their own countries. The edition of #YOOXSOCCERCOUTURE created for the next football World Cup in Russia 2018 will be presented in a special pop-up store.

The Fanatic Bar is open for sports fans and visitors during the exhibition, featuring a sport bar style atmosphere, its walls hung with football club pennants and photos of famous footballers as bartender Charles Schumann crafts special cocktails in his inimitable signature style. The soundtrack for the show was designed by the pioneering electronic music DJ Hell, considered a natural heir to Kraftwerk in his native Germany.

Fanatic Feelings

Complesso di Santa Maria Novella, piazza della Stazione 5, Florence

June 13-July 22 2018

11am-7pm

Free entrance