Levi's Take to the Stage With Two New Exhibitions At Milan Design Week

Milan Design Week is to product design what Paris Fashion Week is to fashion. The annual fair, known for giving notable design and architecture studios a platform to present large-scale installations in and around Milan, has long wowed art and design circles, helped by its close ties with the Venice Biennale. But what's so different about this year's showdown? It's set to be bigger and better than ever, with the expansive experience including literal household names across fashion (Hermes), film (David Lynch) and appliance industries (Kohler, IKEA), all planning to develop their own creative playgrounds. Of particular interest is Levi’s two-part/three-team proposition, taking place at Saloné del Mobile and Milan Design Week respectively.

For seven years at Milan Design Week, the curatorial organiser Masterly has reinforced their mission behind ‘The Dutch in Milano,’ where designers and businesses can engage the art fair with their varied imaginations. In year eight, Masterly will provide the stage for Levi’s to bring its own denim heritage-meets-furniture exhibition to Saloné del Mobile in a two-part experience.

Part one celebrates Levi’s ongoing collaboration with The Visionary Lab and Vitra called Icons Re/Outfitted. It aims to shift waste practices into new creative forms. Fashion designers and artists repurpose Levi’s denim into freshly upholstered used chairs from Swiss-owned Vitra. The exhibition expects to feature a newly designed chair by an Italian artist.

Part two marks Levi’s showcase of archival garments at Milan’s Museum of Culture titled Icons, Innovations & Firsts: Stories of Heritage and Progress From the Levi’s® Archives. The exhibition features garments from archives tracing back to Levi’s origins in San Francisco, CA to detail a timeline of heritage and impact across history from gold-mining workwear to stonewashed denim to grunge to NIGO collections.

Milan Design Week takes place from 16-21 April.