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Purse

Design House House of Moschino Italian
Designer Rossella Jardini Italian
fall/winter 2000–2001
Not on view
Franco Moschino's witty, ironic perspective on the fashion industry and consumerism suffuses his brand’s eclectic, postmodern designs, as in this handbag designed by Rosella Jardini. A Surrealistic subversion of one object (handbag) into another (iron), or the reverse, depending on how you look at it, is characteristic of the label’s play with words, with signifier and signified. A similar instance can be found in Moschino’s landmark design of spring/summer 1991, when a white shirt was emblazoned with the statement "too much irony" in the back, and iron stains in the front. The trope of the iron and the pun on the word irony continues in this iron-as-purse.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Purse
  • Design House: House of Moschino (Italian, founded 1983)
  • Designer: Rossella Jardini (Italian, born 1952)
  • Date: fall/winter 2000–2001
  • Culture: Italian
  • Medium: leather, metal
  • Credit Line: Alfred Z. Solomon-Janet A. Sloane Endowment Fund, 2018
  • Object Number: 2018.857
  • Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

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Coat, House of Moschino Italian, wool, leather, Italian
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Design House House of Moschino
Designer Franco Moschino
fall/winter 1993–94
Armor, Steel, copper alloy, textile, leather, Italian
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ca. 1400–1450 and later
Purse, Lederer French, suede, metal, glass, silk, French
Purse
Designer Lederer
1951
Maillot, House of Moschino Italian, synthetic fiber, Italian
Maillot
Design House House of Moschino
Designer Franco Moschino
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Helmet and Breastplate for the Gioco del Ponte, Steel, polychromy, lead, Italian
Helmet and Breastplate for the Gioco del Ponte
Italian
17th century, with later alterations

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