Prato is once again at the hub of major cultural events on the Italian scene with the exhibition COVERI STORY. From Prato to Made in Italy: lasting from 24 October 2012 to 18 January 2013, it will tell the story of Prato native Enrico Coveri, from his early days in Tuscany to his international success. Promoted by the Prato Chamber of Commerce, with a contribution from the Region of Tuscany, the event will inaugurate the new Chamber of Commerce head office, complete with a 700 square metre bi-level exhibition space, the result of a painstaking renovation of a disused industrial silk mill in the city centre.

Curated by Ugo Volli, Martina Corgnati and Luigi Salvioli, the exhibition features original pieces of clothing, sketches, fashion show storyboards (something the public has never seen before), photographs, videos of catwalks shows and a host of magazine covers devoted to Coveri’s creations. A further section will also provide a documentary record of his love of contemporary art, with a valuable collection of works, including one of the Coveri portraits by Andy Warhol. The exhibition is designed to enable visitors to experience the main milestones in Enrico Coveri’s career and the story of his brand – hence the subtitle, From Prato to Made in Italy – starting at the end of the seventies, when a handful of ingenious artists and entrepreneurs (Armani, Coveri, Versace, Mandelli and Missoni) launched Italian fashion all over the world.

Born in 1952, Coveri was still very young when he started designing models for local industry, holding his first show with the Touche collection in 1973, when he was only twenty-one, and immediately making name for himself on the Florence fashion scene, in those days the most important in Italy. At that time, when things looked black for Italy, fashion became a real driver for recovery. The exhibition explains the context and the idiosyncrasies of the region where Enrico Coveri let his talent unfold: the tradition of quality and efficiency of the textiles industry based in Prato and Tuscany, with its unique leather, straw and felt craftsmanship, but also a host of modern industrial technologies.

It also analyses the other crucial milestones in Coveri’s professional career, for example in 1977, when he organised his first fashion show in Paris at the age of only twenty-five: it was such a runaway success that it launched him onto the world fashion stage. The result was the “Coveri style”, with characteristics that made his products unmistakeable, even in the midst of the rich fashion scene of the day. Fun, the sheer pleasure of living and playfulness were his trademarks, while his target included the whole family – man, woman and child – who often trod the runway together: his creativity reached into every facet of life’s occasions, from the important evening to the beach. The most obvious symbol of Coveri’s style was glitter, a mobile, brilliant covering, always in the mood for a party, but usually limited to accessories, which this young fashion designer was fond of sprinkling over all his creations. Like colour, up to now, glitter is recognized as a distinctive feature of the brand, as it has been claimed that it stands at Coveri as chains stand at Chanel.

Then came his eye for discovering very young, beautiful, unknown models, whose names became bywords for international fashion, such as Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer, and such great photographers as Bill King and Oliviero Toscani for his catalogues. Enrico Coveri dialogued with the best contemporary artists and managed to recruit many famous names and showbiz stars to his clientele and testimonials.

First among other designers, his creativity let him widen his production, creating new collections alongside the main one (Sportswear, Jeans, Junior, Enrico Coveri Baby, Premiers Jours and You Young), as well as extending the brand in different fields: from design objects to make up, from accessories to colored furs and perfumes, including the famous Paillettes.

Chamber of Commerce
Via del Romito, 71
Prato 59100 Italy
Tel. + 39 0574 612715
Tel. +39 0574 612766
www.po.camcom.it

Opening hours
Tuesday to Friday: from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 midday and from 4.00 to 6.00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: from 10.000 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.
Also available at other times on request
Free entry