Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses
Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses Cleveland Museum of Art Preview Event November 5, 2025
The newly opened exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses illustrates how Italy's artistic and cultural heritage is continuously preserved in Italian fashion. If you are a fashionista or just interested in both historic and modern fashion trends from the fashion capital of Italy this is a must see.
It is also a very interesting (and colorful) presentation of historic and modern Italian art and culture. But this is the Cleveland Museum of Art so what I really liked is that the curators paired the designs of 20th and 21st century Italian fashion houses and names (including names like Armani, Valentino, Ferragamo and Versace that even I know!) with pieces from the CMA's collection made between the Italian Renaissance and Early Baroque periods. Here for example is a juxtaposition of wings with Evening Dress and Wings, spring 2024. Nicola Brognana next to The Annunciation, c. 1580. Paolo Veronese. How cool!
Or how about Portrait of a Man, Possibly Girolamo Rosati, 1533-34. Lorenzo Lotto next to Ensemble, fall 2022. Glenn Martens
Here's Portrait of a Woman, c. 1555. Anglo Bronzino next to Ensemble, fall 2015. Alberta Ferretti
And so many more. I like how the pieces showcase Italian heritage and preserve that through design and fashion via the CMA's collection.
The CMA press release says it well: "Fashion, in all its changes, is a continuous thread that reveals history's complexities and addresses ideas that transcend time from the past into the present, materializing contemporary beauty. Through this lens, the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) examines more than 100 modern and contemporary Italian fashions and accessories in dialogue with Italian fine, decorative, and textile arts from the 1400s to the early 1600s in its newest exhibition, Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses."
Darnell-Jamal Lisby, associate curator of fashion, said "… since the turn of the 1900s, rising Italian fashion organizations, also called "houses," have been founded by prolific individuals and families who dominate global style with unmatched design craftsmanship, quality fabrics, and enthralling aesthetics." He goes on, ""It is my hope that visitors recognize how fashion is a conduit for understanding respective cultures across time and can be a dynamic conduit for understanding other mediums, such as painting, sculpture, textiles, and decorative arts. Renaissance to Runway brings to life this connection and the incredible artistic ingenuity of the Italian fashion houses that has continuously captured the world's heart and imagination."
Darnell-Jamal Lisby
At the preview event on November 6, 2025 Todd Mesek, chief marketing officer at the Cleveland Museum of Art, introduced Darnell-Jamal Lisby who was a driving force behind this exhibit.
Todd Mesek
Darnell-Jamal Lisby presentation
Darnell explained the vision and key pieces of the exhibition in this preview presentation. Watch the video.
He said, "Presenting approximately 80 ensembles and garments and 40 jewelry pieces by a range of storied houses, such as Fortuny, Pucci, Gucci, Armani, Buccellati, Bvlgari, Ferragamo, Versace, Valentino, and more, this show celebrates the vibrant intersection where the past and present lexicons of Italian creative ingenuity meet."
Like so much of creative fashion it is hard to imagine some of the pieces actually worn by anyone - like these.
But some pieces, like this jacket, would not be out of place today.
You can learn more about the exhibition and reserve tickets here.
You can view this exhibition from November 9, 2025, through February 1, 2026, in the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall at the CMA. Besides the website, tickets can also be reserved by phone at 216-421-7350 or on-site at one of the ticket desks.
Again, this is a no-brainer must-see for anyone interested in fashion. But the Italian culture and artistic expression demonstrated in the exhibition makes it of interest to all, even fashion challenged guys like me.
You might even see some fashion forward attendees like these when you visit.
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