|
     
|
 |
|
 |
||
a
Giuliana Cella: Impressions of far-off lands
by
Giusi
Ferré
Geography gone crazy; meridians and parallels
tangled into cobwebs. Memory transports fashion along forgotten routes into a
far-away world: embroidery from the Punjab, antique saris from Benares, brocade
from Rajastan, fine woollens from Beluchistan and Kashmir, phulkari from
Bhatinda, wedding veils from Kerala, Indonesian silk batik. Giuliana Cella is a
traveller worthy of inclusion in the “Manuale
dei luogi fantastici” (Manual of fantastic places) (by Manguel and
Guadalupi) and expresses, in her work, an inner nomadism, a wealth of culture
and different influences, tastes and moods that until now were not too welcome
in the world of clothing, because they introduce the colours of India, the
natural elegance of the East, Burmese tenderness, ornamentation from Laos and
hand-woven silks and embroidery done with a patience that is now a thing of the
past.
Out of her personal collection of antique fabrics,
Giuliana Cella has selected, and is showing, eighteenth century jamawar, early
nineteenth century cashmere and late nineteenth century phulkari and bagh, woven
on very small looms. Of course, she also transforms them into garments. Loose
shawl-like shirts, doubled tunics, cabans with big collars, sweet and sensual
shapes that glide over the body.
When a woman is enveloped in these filmy silk
organzas, these soft cashmeres with their long embroidered borders she can
really feel, at that moment, the exhilarating sensation of being a queen.
| ||
|
||
| |
||
