Eclectic, bohemian and revolutionary, Frida was an artist endowed with an acumen that, alongside her innate sensuality, allowed her to captivate anyone. Following Kahlo’s rediscovery, some of the aspects that contributed to her great popular success were also linked to her personal history: Frida soon became a symbol of strength and resistance in spite of illness and disability, of sexual freedom and customs, and of the fight against social inequality and injustice.
Frida has been a muse for the creative industry and for artists of various kinds, among whom it is worth mentioning Coldplay, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joaquín Sabina and, as already mentioned, Madonna. In the film field, the film ‘Frida’, starring actress Salma Hayek and winner of two Oscars, stands out among the many documentaries. Similarly, Pixar Animation Studios produced an animated film for the Day of the Dead entitled ‘Coco’, also winner of two Oscars, in which the character of Frida was of enormous importance.
In the field of fashion, Frida was a source of inspiration for international designers and ateliers such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Kenzo, Carolina Herrera, Salvatore Ferragamo, Roberto Cavalli, Moschino, Alberta Ferretti, Missoni, Delpozo, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Vans, Nike and Zara. Perhaps this is why, almost 60 years after her death, Vogue Mexico decided to dedicate the cover of its November 2012 issue to her, using a photo by Nickolas Muray.
The importance of clothes for Kahlo was multifaceted: on the one hand, they had a political significance of recovering the popular Mexican tradition in the light of the revolution; on the other hand, they helped the painter to conceal and divert attention from her tortured body; finally, they contributed to the process of iconisation initiated by Frida herself.
Kahlo used clothes typical of different regions of Mexico, but she was, without a doubt, particularly attached to the Tehuana dress of Oaxaca, the state in which her mother was originally from, the Tehuana being the only matriarchal culture in Mexico, in which women proudly flaunted their hard-working and self-sufficient nature. At the same time, Frida’s clothes were not only Mexican: she selected exotic Chinese fabrics, European lace and vibrant Mexican yarns, which her tailor combined to create her unique and personal vision. She also wore orthopaedic corsets, some of which she painted by hand, sunglasses and fine European perfumes, and had a habit of painting her nails red, elements that contributed to an eclectic vision that was as unique as it was iconic.
This exhibition presents several reproductions of clothes worn by Frida Kahlo, as well as jewellery and accessories, reconstructed through painstaking field research and the study of documentary sources.