Its beginnings place it with a strong symbolic association with the working class, although later it became a revolutionary icon of male sex appeal or a symbol of female empowerment, and thus it has had a thousand lives and meanings… We are talking about jeans, a garment with a long and surprising story to tell and which is now included in the exhibition Jeans, from the street to the Ritz, which can be seen completely free from November 24 to March 17, 2024 at the Costume Museum in Madrid.
With a nod to Yves Saint Laurent’s famous quote, which proclaimed “Down with the Ritz! ¡Viva la calle!”, the exhibition dynamically introduces the origins of the textile industry, its constant metamorphosis and its uncomplicated adaptation in the world. We list five reasons why this exhibition curated by Josep Casamartina and Ismael Núñez Muñoz, from the Antoni de Montpalau Foundation, is worth visiting.
A tour with more than two hundred pieces of clothing and accessories allows you to delve into the history of denim fabric, from its origins as a material in the 18th century, through the birth of jeans in the mid-19th century and its enormous expansion throughout the century. XX and beginning of the XXI, to its infinite formal and textile variations, but also symbolic and social.
The exhibition is a great opportunity to discover the countless transformations in the types of denim garments, how modern versions of historical pieces have been recreated, how the taste for worn and torn jeans appeared despite being a garment that was born to be resistant and last. and how it has become a luxury bet with the inclusion of embroidery, extravagant prints, draping, puffing, etc.
Jeans, from the street to the Ritz is not simply a journey through the world of the cowboy, but also a tribute to human skill, to the networks of people who collaborate to weave a broader narrative and to the deep connections that this fabric that emerged from cotton has generated in our society.
Jeans, denim and denim clothing are one of the most universal elements because over time they have become common items in all closets. They are garments that have been produced and used by specialized companies such as the pioneer Levi’s, founded in 1853, to current ready-to-wear brands and world-renowned designers. In Jeans, from the Street to the Ritz you can see pieces from brands dedicated to making jeans such as Levi Strauss, Lee, Lois or Pepe Jeans, but also from brands such as Cavalli, Armani, Kenzo, Paco Rabanne, Calvin Klein, Thierry Mugler , Jean Paul Gaultier, Dolce
John Wayne, Marlon Brando, James Dean and a long list of film actors helped popularize jeans. Even a little more than half a century ago, there were ‘cowboy’ movies. And the Costume Museum’s exhibition reflects the influence of the American celluloid industry and how it contributed to forming the image of what we understand today as a jean. The golden age of jeans in cinema was the forties and fifties of the last century, which consolidated and expanded the idea of ??the durability of the garment throughout the world. The female revolution, as far as jeans are concerned, was led by Marilyn Monroe, “very transcendent, she was the great spreader of female denim,” points out curator Josep Casamartina.
The exhibition also discusses denim from an environmental and sustainable perspective. Unfortunately, its popularity has had negative consequences, such as excessive use of water, chemicals, energy expenditure, and a large carbon footprint in its manufacturing. Hence, one of the areas of the exhibition tour addresses the ecological implications of the manufacturing process and the search for sustainable alternatives for its production. In this way, we seek to raise awareness about the projects that are currently working to change this reality and make the textile industry less polluting.
Attention fashion lovers! Jeans, from the Street to the Ritz is also the perfect excuse to get the first book on jeans published in Spain, a catalog with texts from the curators of the exhibition, as well as other collaborators such as Christian Lacroix, Josep M.Rovira, Succubus or Carmen Silla.
