That's how it was...Exhibition: In Madrid. A history of fashion, 1940-1970
The Eagle. Finished. March 10-May 22, 2022
«In Madrid. A history of fashion, 1940-1970» presents a journey through the different universes of fashion, from sewing workshops to the catwalks, going through the cinema and the press as a reflection of a society in transformation. The exhibition travels from post-war Spain to the 118s, analyzing the evolution of fashion and its protagonists in a city where designers and models, costume designers and actresses, dressmakers and anonymous Madrid residents coexist. Their social customs and stylistic references have been recovered through 76 photographic reproductions, many of them unpublished, and XNUMX pieces from institutions such as the Regional Archive of the Community of Madrid and the Costume Museum.
expo data
Dates:
FINISHED
From March 10 to May 22, 2022
Showroom:
The Eagle
Organization:
General Directorate of Cultural Heritage
Curatorship:
Esperanza García Claver (general curator), Miquel Martínez Albero, Lola Feijóo Alonso and Sonita Taravilla Gómez (co-curators)
A history of fashion
The 40s The lights of the city
The exhibition presents a chronological journey that begins in post-war Spain, in which the textile sector, in line with the rest of the country, was going through a bleak outlook. The illuminated signs of the stores and nightclubs, the neon signs of the advertising posters of cinemas and theatres illuminated Madrid's Gran Vía in a city where haute couture houses had to make an extra effort to open after the war; and the workshops of tailors, dressmakers and related guilds tried to stay afloat despite the lack of suppliers and textile materials. Austerity in clothing was imposed, reflected in the majority use of grey, brown and black colours and in the recycling of garments.
The models that reflect the fashion magazines, with actresses from Hollywood occupying the front pages, and radio programs such as Fashion in Spain; They present a luxury that is inaccessible to the majority of the population, subject to ration cards. During the Civil War, many of the dressmakers and seamstresses who had worked in sewing workshops remained at home sewing military uniforms for the army.
At the same time, industries associated with clothing emerged, such as zippers, needles for overlocking stockings, or the Alfa sewing machine, announced as "the first great Spanish brand" that comes to alleviate the absence of imports due to international isolation.
From the female section of FET and JONS, through the so-called "home schools", moderation in dress is preached and female education is oriented towards the government of a house with subjects dedicated to washing and ironing, home economics and dressmaking. Magazines like the Fashion in Spain the style rules to be followed are established and offer the possibility of acquiring patterns and learning about the latest news from fabric stores and sewing machine models.
Image: Embroiderers of the Women's Section, 1947. Nicolás Muller. ARCM Fund
pieces from the 40s
50 years
The 50s People are talking about...Madrid
Fashion in Spain in the 50s is influenced by the gradual opening of tourism and the regular broadcast of television programs, women's magazines, movies and advertising that encourage the entry of international fashions. Photographers like Pando or Vicente Nieto carry out commercial campaigns in different corners of Madrid for brands and fashion stores.
American films shot in Madrid promote Spanish haute couture design in great legends of cinema history such as Ava Gardner, who lived in Madrid for fifteen years and was a Balenciaga client. In the same way, the costumes for the shooting of these films were produced and made with Spanish teams, in tailoring shops such as Cornejo or Peris.
EISA (Balenciaga), Pedro Rodríguez, Asunción Bastida, Manuel Pertegaz, Elio Berhanyer, Herrera y Ollero, Vargas Ochagavia, Marbel, Lino, Natalio or Emmanuel, among many other haute couture names, find in Madrid the perfect city to carry out their trade and create the image of Madrid's high society, in addition to modulating the image that Madrid is held in foreign countries.
The social life of the capital, from the grand receptions in the most elegant salons, to the show business parties, is marked by the creations that came out of these haute couture salons.
Image: The designer Marbel with his clients, 1952. Nicolás Muller. ARCM Fund
60s
In 1959 Elio Berhanyer presented his first collection, which was a shock to Madrid haute couture, not only because of the birth of a new house, but also because he would be almost the first modern designer the capital had.
At the beginning of the sixties, haute couture houses, with their exorbitant prices, give way to the phenomenon of boutiques, whose presence was multiplying in Madrid. Tailor-made clothing will begin to weaken in favor of ready-made fashion. Haute couture had its days numbered.
fashion and the lifestyle They were marked by the most Madrid-born actress in Hollywood, Ava Gardner, who lived in Madrid for fifteen years and was a client of Balenciaga and Elio Berhanyer, and the best-dressed actresses in Spanish cinema, Concha Velasco, Analía Gadé, Carmen Sevilla or Sara Montiel, that made young Spanish women dream and that represented the joy of living that came with the new times.
The context of fashion in Madrid is defined, on the one hand, by the Madrid-Paris-Madrid air bridge and the Madrid-New York-Madrid air bridge; and, on the other, the prevailing fashion of youthquake, the «youthful earthquake», which represents the optimistic, dynamic, pop and daring of this decade that is beginning to be seen in the street style.
Students, music and fashion reflect this moment with a significant shift in trends towards youth and the creation of a cultural identity. Madrid begins to be seen in color.
Image: Young people in Ciudad Universitaria. 1967 Martin Santos Yubero ARCM Fund
documentary video
The exhibition has the participation of those who were part of this industry, protagonists and anonymous, whose valuable first-person testimony has been compiled in seven interviews, a reflection of the living memory of these decades. This audiovisual piece, together with the pieces from the NO-DO Historical Archive that recovers fragments of films by Edgar Neville, Luis Marquina or Juan Antonio Bardem, allow us to better understand the contrasts and also the threads that united the internal and public spheres of the fashion.
Catalog
The publication analyzes the different dimensions of fashion in Madrid through the articles of the curating team: Esperanza García Claver, as general curator, and co-curators Lola Feijóo Alonso, Miquel Martínez Albero and Sonia Taravilla Gómez, to which is added the guest signature by Julen Morras.
The catalog is available in commercial bookstores and in the Institutional Bookstore of the Community of Madrid.
Price: 30 €
Do you want to access the catalog in its online version?
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