ART & CULTURE
THE EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED, WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.Naples, one of Italy’s richest capitals of cultural and artistic creativity, is presented to the United States beyond all common stereotypes, thanks to a program centered on the original contamination of the sacred and the profane. Isaia S.p.A., an old and cherished name in haute couture for men, chooses the iconic figure of Saint Gennaro and dedicates to him its 2013 collection. All this happens in one unique day: in the morning a multi-media show will take place on the street at the border between the traditional neighborhood of Little Italy and the stylish neighborhood of Soho; in the afternoon the program features a debate to be held at the Italian Cultural Institute with the participation of artists and representatives of the cultural world.
Isaia S.p.A., has locations in several countries including the USA where it owns a showroom in New York City, has always had the goal to marry its work with other Neapolitan and Campanian excellences in order to raise better awareness on the social, artistic, industrial and cultural fabric of a city that is not always represented in a good light. Starting this year, with the project “Naples: creativity & style as culture,” Isaia will organize a series of meetings, debates and events in synergy with several Italian brands and institutions abroad, to present the non stereotypical face of this city. Naples is not often recognized as one of Italy’s most active centers of cultural and stylistic creativity, but it is mostly known by all for the extensive immigration it has “produced” over the decades.
This year, the year the program is launched, Isaia has decided to dedicate its collection to Saint Gennaro, the patron saint of the city of Naples, by introducing some stylish pieces featuring a unique contamination of the sacred and the profane by using colors, fabrics and images tied to the figure of the famed Neapolitan patron saint and his treasure. It was a difficult choice, as Saint Gennaro represents, on one hand, the highest level of popular Neapolitan spirituality, and on the other he embodies a strongly stereotyped mediatic phenomenon. But it was also a strong choice of cultural and social depth, because Saint Gennaro probably is the only iconic figure able to tell the whole world the memory of this city, its desires to overcome the boundaries of its territory and its tenacity in facing difficulties, by encapsulating the past, the present and the hope in the future of a population who does not give up and strongly believes in the Saint, a Saint who speaks to each and every one of them.
The project will be launched in New York City on July 23, 2013. In the morning there is going to be a multi-media show in Mulberry Street, right on the suggestive border between the traditional neighborhood of Little Italy, home, by the way, of the yearly celebrations of the Feast of Saint Gennaro, and SoHo, the city’s most sophisticated neighborhood known for its fashion and style, boutiques and Italian showrooms. On this street, the sacred and the profane will come together, and the public will be able to view a unique multimedia photographic show on Naples, along with a fashion show of pieces designed by Isaia inspired by the iconic figure of Saint Gennaro.In the afternoon, the program features a debate, held at the Italian Cultural Institute, on the theme of creativity and style as a vehicle to culture. Among Isaia’s president’s, Gianluca Isaia, guests, we find Don Gennaro Matino, a priest, essayist and theology professor and the Neapolitan sculptor Lello Esposito.