Exhibition Report: Dysfashional Berlin | Maison Martin Margiela |

In a calming contrast to the breathless hype of this year’s MercedesBenz FashionWeek Berlin, the city hosted the Paris based exhibition "Dysfashional". It is an exhibition that changed our concept of fashion, of art and their overlaps. The pieces displayed, created by some of the most esteemed fashion designers of today, are a refreshing reaction to a "literal" notion of fashion as uni-dimensional collections of clothing and accessories. The prefix "dys" perfectly mirrors this disturbance to the process, the element of blurring the lines between the concept of a garment and a piece of art.

We found "Production Originale" (2007-2009, Produktion Mosign, Luxemburg) by Maison Martin Margiela one of the most inspiring installations. The installation of classical room interiors, reduced to the black and white life-size print of the rooms' walls on simple white screens, creates only an optical illusion of the spaces. This well-thought out and archaic Trompe-l’œil appears as an unmasking of the construction of beauty. It reveals the message that little is needed to evoke what we perceive as beautiful. It is the demystification of design.

This approach of revelation and demystification of design is a touchstone of the integrity of brands in today's hectic luxury fashion industry. For us, this approach gives the chance to reflect on your work and helps us to reach what we call our philosophy:

Passion Of Perfection

Art as inspiration - Our highlight of the ArtBasel 2010: Ran Hwang

Ran Hwang

"Dreaming of Joy", 2009

Buttons, pins, panel, 120x270cm

Kashya Hildebrand Gallery

at SopeBasel 2010 during ArtBasel2010.

"For art establishes the basic human truths which

must serve as the touchstones of our judgement. The

artist faithful to his personal vision of reality,

becomes the last champion of the individual mind and

sensibility against an intrusive society and an

offensive state.”

(John F. Kennedy)

How right Kennedy was. Art inspires us and inspiration is the ingredient that makes our lives extraordinary. The yearly ArtBasel, the world's most esteemed display for artists, allows us each year to face an avalanche of inspirations and impressions. One artist, however, has touched our senses and taken our breaths away this year the most: Ran Hwang.

The Korean artist, born 1960, creates pictures of unique expression. Using thousands of simple buttons and pins, she creates large wall installations that only from afar show their breathtakingly vivid picture. Through the immensely repetitive manual work facing the white wall, she says, the experience of her own installations is a form of performance that leads toward finding oneself, like a monk practising Zen.

What struck us in her works was the vision which leads her from the first hammered pin to the precise, vivid and emotional expression of the finished work. Her installations represent a fight for freedom of the individual mind and expression and serve us as a touchstone of our judgements. But regardless of all intellectual examination, it is the incredible beauty of her work that left us speechless.

In the end, it was the vision within her work, the breathtaking beauty of its expression, and the inspiration her message gives that moved us deeply.

In all her works, we see the ceaseless application of her -and our- philosophy:

Passion Of Perfection

The perfect liaison of high culture and luxury - Fitti Pahris Cashmeres presents an exclusive campaign with the rising opera tenor Germán Villar.

Opera embodies the standard of ultimate perfection: only if every individual, from the tenor to the violinist, from the conductor to the pianist, achieves individual perfection, we can indulge in a true masterpiece. In this, we see a perfect reflection of the philosophy of Fitti Pahris Cashmeres: Passion Of Perfection!

Owing to the rarity of this material, for many centuries cashmere was for a long time accessible only to royals, maharajas and a select few - a noble background which created the ultimate standards of craftsmanship in spinning, dying, weaving and embroidery. Today, Fitti Pahris Cashmeres upholds these rarely-kept traditions of the most luxurious artisanship in the history of textiles:

We only work with families who have inherited the knowledge and passion for this tradition over many generations. Each piece leaving our ateliers in Kashmir/India and Kathmandu/Nepal is crafted solely by hand and carries the unique marks of its individual craftsman. In this way, Fitti Pahris Cashmeres strives to sustain an absolute standard of luxury, and continues this noble cultural heritage.

Consequently the cooperation with the rising opera star Germán Villar is perfectly natural. Germán Villar, born in 1975 in Valencia, Spain, embodies those worthwhile values like no other: His glamorous appearance and his unmatched voice have carried him to the most prestigious and esteemed stages of the world. His early accession to the elite group of the world’s finest tenors is the result and success of the ceaseless application of his - and our - philosophy: Passion of Perfection!

Dear friends,

Today, the luxury industry is commonly said to be “selling dreams“.

Selling dreams? We think not. In times of luxury retail “temples“ and

breathless tendecies it appears rather like a rush than a dream.

A dream means to be inspired, enthused, to be touched, fascinated and

energized, to make the impossible possible, to give hope and to allure...

But what is the true source for these emotions and dreams in times like these?

Today‘s luxury industry certainly is not. The only channel that provides such

dreams and emotions, always and untouched by crisis, bubbles and

resignation is - and has always been - art!

Therefore the question of whether our industry and art can have synergies,

overlaps and interaction is absolutely manifest. And the answer is as simple

as the gap between a modern luxury brand and an artist seems wide:

Art, of any type, is the fruit of a mentality, a reception and expression.

This mindset is open to be applied to anything, even to the structures

of a luxury brand.

Art and the arts, culture and cultures, are no superficial marketing factor,

they are the sole source of our inspiration, they drive and guide us,

they make our work colorful and always fair-minded.

They are the heart of Fitti Pahris Cashmeres.

In the blog, we will share those inspirations with you, we will show what drives us

and we will discuss with you what makes us follow this unique path in the industry.

Walk this path with us!