Prada paired with Schiaparelli in Impossible Conversations exhibition!

Some of us have become fans of Prada designs ever since seeing the 2006 film, “The Devil Wears Prada” with Meryl Streep.

In a very aptly named exhibition, “Miuccia PradaMiuccia Prada And Elsa Schiaparelli : Impossible Conversations,” the Metropolitan Museum of Art is holding an exhibit that pairs designers Prada and Schiaparelli.

At the opening exhibition during Milan Womenswear Fashion Week on February 24, 2012 several lovely Prada creations were displayed for the Miuccia Prada And Elsa Schiaparelli: Impossible Conversations at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, Italy.

Guests were treated to the rustic, baroque elegance of the ballroom of the Palazzo Reale, which was completed by architect Giuseppe PiermariniGiuseppe Piermarini in late-eighteenth-century and bombed during the World War II, to be left as ruins for posterity!

Designer Miuccia Prada never met her fellow designer from a previous generation, though she might have, since Schiaparelli died in 1973, and Prada was born in 1949.

Miuccia did however gain much inspiration from Schiaparelli, reading up on one of her favorite designers, who she even subconsciously emulated in her work.

For instance, both designers have included insect motifs in their garments – Schiaparelli placed her Botticelli-inspired bugs onto the lapels of her 1930’s designs, drawing the attention waist-up, while Prada, who likes to focus on the bottom half, put hers on a skirt, as curator Andrew Bolton reminds us.

Emily Rafferty, who is the president of the Met Museum, has deemed the exhibition a “jewel in the crown” of the institution's historic engagement with Italian culture.

Milan’s commissioner of culture, fashion, and design Stefano Boeri stated in his opening speech that the two designers “shared a unique bond with art, womanhood, beauty, and politics.”

Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna WintourAnna Wintour was also attending and looked splendid in her lovely ensemble in shades of rust and orange, especially the patterned coat, but her shoes stole the show.