SCAD Lacoste – Summer 2021 – Exhibitions – “Notre Ami, Pierre Cardin.” Photo Courtesy of SCAD
Notre Ami, Pierre Cardin highlights the designer’s long and treasured friendship with the university that began with the establishment of SCAD Lacoste in the historic village, which Cardin, a longtime resident, knew would serve as an endless source of inspiration for young artists. For nearly two decades, Cardin embraced the role of mentor, engaging hundreds of SCAD students across the university’s top-ranked degree programs — from fashion to architecture and beyond. In 2008, the university honored Cardin with the SCAD Étoile for his contributions to the fields of fashion and design as well as his role in the historic restoration and cultural life of Lacoste. In 2018, the university’s SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta originated the exhibition Pierre Cardin: Pursuit of the Future, a major retrospective presented in partnership with the Pierre Cardin Museum in Paris that included iconic looks from the 1950s held in the SCAD Permanent Collection.
Notre Ami, Pierre Cardin is curated by Rafael Gomes, head of fashion exhibitions at SCAD, in collaboration with Pierre Cardin Paris and Rodrigo Basilicati.
“Summer sunshine bathes France’s Luberon Valley in lavender hues and beckons adventurers to SCAD Lacoste, where enthralling exhibitions and explorations await,” says SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace. “The SCAD Alumni Atelier’s Rue des Artistes invites visitors into working studios of SCAD grads — a jeweler whose cast-bronze works echo influences of medieval French architecture, an en plein air painter whose new series evokes the region’s refulgence, and more. SCAD additionally presents an exhibition that honors the incomparable Pierre Cardin, who lived in Lacoste for many years before his death in 2020. SCAD Lacoste welcomes the world to tour higher education’s premier international destination. À bientôt!”
“This long-awaited event—at the end of several months of lockdown — will put the emphasis on the futurist aesthetic of the great designer, and the choice of models on display underscores Cardin’s taste for experimentation and his contribution to fashion today,” says Jean-Pascal Hesse, Director of Communication for the Pierre Cardin brand.