Gianfranco Ferré’s unseen photographs debut at Forte di Bard

The exhibition 'Gianfranco Ferré dentro l’obiettivo' opens at Forte di Bard in Aosta Valley, running until March 9, 2025. Curated by the Centro Ricerca Gianfranco Ferré of Politecnico di Milano and CZ Fotografia, it presents 90 original photographs from the Archivio Storico Gianfranco Ferré, never exhibited before, alongside garments and preparatory sketches. The show explores Ferré’s design vision through the lens of eight photographers: Gian Paolo Barbieri, Michel Comte, Bettina Rheims, Peter Lindbergh, Guy Bourdin, Patrick Demarchelier, Herb Ritts, and Steven Meisel. The display is organized by visual affinity rather than chronology, with a central gallery evoking 17th-century painting galleries. Six side rooms metaphorically represent Ferré’s six design principles: compose, reduce, emphasize, recalibrate, deconstruct, and emote. Digital QR codes provide additional content, and an AI-based interactive experiment reinterprets Ferré’s approach to form. The exhibition draws from the archive donated by the Ferré family in 2021, now housed at the Fondazione Gianfranco Ferré. Rita Airaghi, Ferré’s longtime collaborator and foundation director, co-selected the photographers. Paola Bertola, coordinator of the research center, notes that the show highlights Ferré’s collaboration with major fashion photographers during a transformative period from the late 1970s to early 2000s.