So far we have seen quite a few collaborations between architecture and fashion, but trends for next year are pointing towards further and wider connections between the two disciplines. You can indeed bet that we will see fashion designers or maisons being represented in some form (uniforms, sponsorships, side events...) at the Expo 2015 exhibition in Milan (May 1 to October 31, 2015).
For example, as highlighted a while back, Latvian design duo Mareunrol's will be part of the creative team working on the pavilion of Latvia at the Universal Exposition.
In a previous post we looked at the connection between the duo's S/S 2015 menswear collection and cartography, but their link with the Expo is currently hinted at also in the video accompanying their A/W 2014-2015 collection, "Tenant/Fieldwork N. 2", art directed by photographer Iveta Vaivode.
Conceived by Made Arhitekti's Miķelis Putrāms and Linda Krūmiņa (better known for receiving Latvia's highest architectural award for their project for the Music and Art School in the city of Saldus) in collaboration with Rolands Pēterkops from Mareunrol's, the pavilion will include projects by Pēterkops himself and artists Voldemārs Johansons, Roberts Rubīns, Anda Poikāne, Dainis Pundurs.
The Latvian pavilion responds to the main theme of the Expo - "Feed the Planet, Energy for Life" - with an environmentally-sound wooden structure (the construction of the pavilion includes cross laminated timber, plywood, and insulation of wood fiber; the main frame of construction is planned from steel) representing a huge oak tree with roots, branches and foliage.
The tree refers to a harmonic ecosystem, hinting at purity of nature, sustainable goods, cultural richness and national sustainability.
The pavilion - featuring an open-plan ground floor and a business area comprising a conference centre with an adjustable space ideal to accomodate both small and big audiences - is planned as a multi-sensory ecosystem in which human beings and nature interact.
Entitled "Nature Inside", the pavilion will give the chance to explore Latvia as a land with natural resources and as a nation with superior industries, introducing visitors to its art, architecture, culture and gastronomy.
Inside the pavilion will indeed offer visitors a slow food snack bar to taste contemporary Latvian cuisine in a picnic-like atmosphere in the under-the-branches amphitheatre or as take-away.
Mareunrol's film emphasises the strength and fierceness of the country's natural resources, while the wooden headdresses/props donned by the model vaguely point towards the architectural timber structure of the pavilion.
Mareunrol's will be presenting their A/W 2015-16 menswear collection "Epizode 5_" in their showroom (8 Rue Debelleyme) during Paris Fashion Week (21st - 24th January 2015).
We will hopefully discover more about their involvement in the Latvian pavilion, while it will be interesting to see which other connections between art, architecture, fashion and culture the Expo will inspire.
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