STUDY SERIES | PRETTY WILD | WEARING SKINS | Fashion & the animal kingdom with Paola Di Trocchio

Animal skins were one of man’s earliest sartorial statements, draped over the body for protection and adornment. 

At first a symbol of primitivism, by the Middle Ages aristocrats and royalty were flaunting their wealth and status by donning expansive fur cloaks over their high-fashion garments. 

Join us for this lecture which will explore the various associations of ‘wearing skin’ across fashion and time.

PAOLA DI TROCCHIO is Curator, Fashion and Textiles at the NGV, Melbourne. She has curated numerous exhibitions that have recently included 200 Years of Australian Fashion and Italian Jewels:  Bulgari Style. Her most recent lecture at the Collection was Haute Couture Houses as part of the VAMFF 2017 Arts Program.

The PRETTY WILD Study Series will reflect on the themes explored in ANIMAL KINGDOM (13 June 2017 -19 September 2017) exhibition-house tour. We know that all the speakers offer wonderful insights through their individual knowledge whilst exploring the artistic, social, and cultural worlds where a menagerie of art, fashion, interiors and design and animals meet.

image Tintoretto (Jacopo Comin, Italian 1518 – 1594) Doge Pietro Loredano, circa 1567-1570 oil on canvas, collection of National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 3677, Felton Bequest, 1928, image used with permission