meeting of minds

WORDS: STEPHEN DOIG

The lush dampness of Trivero, in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, is pretty far from Instagram-perfect Lake Como or Tuscany. It’s even farther, both in terms of terrain and mindset, from the freeways and perma-blue sky of Los Angeles. But immediately upon arrival in this rugged part of Italy close to the Swiss border, with its crags and waterfalls, Greg Chait, founder of LA-based cashmere specialist The Elder Statesman, felt right at home.

“ Perhaps it was the fact that it came on the back of the pandemic and lockdowns, perhaps it was something to do with the peace of the forests, which are so ancient, but suddenly there was a sense of ‘and breathe,’” says Chait.

B ut he wasn’t here for a wellness retreat. His trip was strictly business, visiting what he terms the “holy grail” of fabric production – Zegna’s mill in its 38-square-mile nature reserve. And he was here to form a creative marriage between the two brands.

“ I think we’ve both been curious about each other for a while, and this has been two years in the making,” says Zegna’s creative director, Alessandro Sartori, who plays the patrician Italian to Chait’s laid-back West Coaster. “We share a passion for pushing the boundaries of what you can do with materials and changing up tradition, so while we could see each other as competition, actually it’s more exciting to have a conversation and learn from each other.”

T he fruit of that dialogue is the Zegna X The Elder Statesman collection for winter ‘23: heavyweight robed cardigans in acid brights or distorted ikat motifs, plush corduroy-cashmere suits in pistachios and lilacs, and pillow-soft sweaters in saturated shades. The textures may be candyfloss soft, but the colours pulse with attitude.

S ince founding The Elder Statesman in an industrial area of downtown LA, Chait has built up a cult following among the city’s creatives (and the Silicon Valley tech bros up the coast) for his interpretation of cashmere, applying playful print and searing bright tie-dyes to take the preciousness out of the cloth. This caught Sartori’s eye, since his own MO at Zegna has been to turn any traditional notion of Italian refinement on its head.

“ I think we’re both very curious about the capabilities of materials and what you can do with them –ways you can subvert or redefine traditional notions of what’s luxurious,” says Sartori of their shared geekery around all things cashmere. “It was a two-year conversation where we exchanged ideas about how Zegna and The Elder Statesman could work in harmony together.” They might seem diametrically opposed – Zegna’s storied tailoring history vs the luxe bohemia of the West Coast – but the two have a shared mission statement to casualise the traditional tenets of menswear.

“ We’re both about comfort, but in different ways,” says Sartori. “For me it has been about turning the suit into a leisure-wear item and bringing a new sense of freedom to how men dress.” Knitwear has been essential to that mission, either in using soft cashmeres over traditional wools or linens, or swapping out stiff cotton shirts for knitwear. The collection harnesses the prowess of Zegna’s mills – the brand manufactures everything, from its own yarns to a tireless R&D department devoted to fabric wizardry – and applies that Italian finesse to a potent dose of LA cool. “For guys like me, it’s an astonishing thing to see,” says Chait of the processes involved in making the pieces.

“ We started with the yarn itself, creating a totally new kind of weave,” says Sartori. The designer – and his team of artisans – needed a looser, softer density of cashmere with less tension than is usual. But it still had to be robust enough to endure dyeing and some rigorous testing to make it “roadworthy”. The process was laborious – taking almost a year on the tension of the yarn alone – and the solution was to go back to basics with an old-fashioned loom operated entirely by hand, to physically determine the exact density in the yarn.

F rom there, the crafting of the collection could begin. The USP of The Elder Statesman’s knitwear – which is dried using the sunlight in the back alley behind the brand’s factory in LA – is its laid-back, shrug-on-and-headto-Malibu surfer appeal. To speak to that aesthetic, the weaving was done without seams. This makes the process longer and more intense, but the resultant fit is softer and unstructured.

F or Chait, the commitment to sustainability in the making process, as well as the use of natural components wherever possible, was part of the attraction. “My company is 15 years old, and suddenly you’re faced with the knowledge and skill of 110 years of history and expertise. In Topanga

Canyon and Nine Palms there’s a lot of talk about earthiness and working with nature, and that’s great, but here in this space this brand has been doing incredible things in conservation for decades,” says Chait of the rewilding project that the house’s founder, Ermenegildo Zegna, initiated to replant the area that had been devastated by deforestation, back in the 1950s.

T he water that washes through the factory is rainwater, and the process uses natural dyes, with plants, vegetables and flowers making up the colours for Zegna’s mainline collection. These were still employed with The Elder Statesman range – the cornflower blues and soft yellows of the shirting come from flowers – but synthetic dyes also had to be incorporated to achieve those distinctive rainbow hues. Spines from prickly teasel heads are used to texture the surface of the cashmere, something that became a hallmark of the collaboration – each piece has a tufted surface. “To get that shaggy effect and the right kind of pile we had to experiment for a long time – too many needles and it was too rough, too few and it was too smooth – so it was real trial and error.”

“

In the end we’re both obsessed with provenance and working with what nature gives you,” says Chait. “Look at Chef’s Table ,” he says, referring to the hit Netflix series about the working practices of famous cooks.

“Or the farm-to-table movement, or the popularity of chefs like Alice Waters. It’s about a more authentic way of living, and that’s what we do with our cashmere.” If you’re in the mood for Italian-West Coast fusion, Chait and Sartori have the perfect recipe.

A new exhibition at the V&A in London is showcasing elaborate outfits and artefacts to celebrate divas in all their extravagant glory

WORDS: CHRIS ANDERSON

In modern celebrity culture, the term ‘diva’ might be uttered in the same sentence as strong female personalities, such as Barbara Streisand, Beyoncé, or Mariah Carey. We might also associate it with someone flamboyant, over the top, and demanding or difficult to please. But now it takes on another meaning, as the title of a major exhibition, Diva, at London’s V&A museum.

Curator Kate Bailey seems clearly amused when asked for her own definition of the word. “It’s really a multi-faceted meaning that’s changed and transformed over time,” she says. “Diva is actually an Italian word meaning ‘goddess’, so we’re really looking at where it entered into everyday use, and why and where it’s been redefined. But we’re definitely trying to challenge any negative connotations, and see the word as a positive.”

The museum is certainly trying hard to make its case, amassing more than 250 objects, featuring dresses and costumes worn by famous names, photography, design, music, and live performances. The sleek fringed dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in the 1958 movie Some Like it Hot, stage outfits worn by singers Tina Turner, Pink and Cher, and a couture Julien MacDonald gown, with matching diamanté-studded wellington boots, chosen by Dame Shirley Bassey for a performance at Glastonbury, are among the highlights.

For Bailey, the common use of the term ‘diva’ began in entertainment with female opera singers. “It was about women with a voice finding their voice,” she says. “People applied this term, diva, to the female opera singers gaining prominence in the mid-19th century, simply because of their ‘divine’ voices. It became associated with these exceptionally-talented performers, making their presence felt in the male-dominated world of entertainment, being creative, and seen almost as a kind of trailblazer, pushing boundaries. Even then, you see how a diva might be interpreted as difficult or demanding, fighting their corner, making themselves heard, and so on.” Social movements, such as the rise of feminism, and the quest for equal rights, echoed and strengthened the diva image that was emerging, as

This pages, clockwise from below: Billie Holiday at the Albert Hall, 1954

Photo: Harry Hammond / © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Lizzo wearing Viktor&Rolf, New York City, 2021. Photo: Gotham/GC Images/Getty Images; sketch of Flame dress for Tina Turner by Bob Mackie, 1977. Original Artwork by Costume and Fashion Designer, Bob Mackie; Costume, designed by Christian Dior, worn by Vivien Leigh as Paola in Jean Giraudoux's play, ‘Duel of Angels’, Apollo Theatre, 1958 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Right: Tina Turner wearing the Flame dress designed by Bob Mackie (1980). Photo by Gai Terrell, Redferns. Getty Images shown in the exhibition. “So we’ve organised the story chronologically, starting with 19th century opera, moving into Victorian times, and then witnessing the emergence of the female Hollywood actors, or ‘drama queens’,” Bailey continues, noting another popular term from history with its meaning twisted through the years.

“And then we move to the showgirls and dancers, and the modern-day icons, such as Beyoncé or Lady Gaga.” Learning about the strong female figures from the early days of Hollywood seems a particular highlight. “They were incredible artists, forging their own identities, and starting their own production companies,” she says. “I’m thinking of Leah Baird, Joan Bennett, Joan Fontaine, Madeline Brandeis, and Rita Hayworth. They inspired others, such as Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Garland.”

American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas, prominent throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was said to be as famous for her temperament as her singing, with Opera News c alling her “the definition of a diva” in 2006. But for Bailey, such behaviour was needed to exercise status and freedom in the face of competing artists. “There’s a sense that being a diva was more of an attitude, and it could be quite liberating,” Bailey continues. “It doesn’t need to apply to a specific gender either, and can be fluid, and this is something we explore in the exhibition, looking at how male figures such as Sir Elton John or Prince embodied the diva persona, with extravagance. For example, we have Elton’s Louis XIV-inspired costume, designed by Sandy Powell, worn on the singer’s 50th birthday in 1997, complete with towering wig and 15ft train.”

Bailey describes other ways the exhibition revisits the diva. “The diva may use their power, their voice, to speak out on a certain cause or topic, from civil rights to Vietnam,” she says. “And what does it mean to have that power, that pushing back?

As a performer, you probably have a team to support you, but you’re the one who steps out on stage, into the limelight, and you’re the one who faces all the scrutiny, the pressure, and the responsibility.”

Sometimes those pressures can be difficult to deal with, and Bailey

These pages, clockwise from right: Grace Jones wearing Issey Miyake molded corset, Drury Lane, 1981. © David Corio; Maria Callas taken as Violette in La Traviata, by Houston Rogers © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Portrait of Adelina Patti, by Franz Winterhalter ca. 1865-70. Reproduced courtesy of Harewood House Trust; Elton John 50th birthday look with wig and boat hat, designed by Sandy Powell, 1997 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Screenprint of Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol, 1967 © 2022 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Licensed by DACS, London cites Britney Spears and Whitney Houston, also featured, as two females that struggled with their status. “And on the flipside, you have Kate Bush, who decided to withdraw from fame, and that’s actually a form of power in itself, to be able to do that,” Bailey says. “These days, with social media, there’s a sense that it’s easier for the diva to decide if they want to be public-facing or not.”

Even Missy Elliott, Debbie Harry, punk diva Siouxsie Soux, and Lebanese singer Fairuz, are all given their time at the V&A to shine, with items sourced from around the world and the museum’s own archives. “There are some items being exhibited in the UK for the first time, like the dress worn by Theda Bara in the silent movie version of Cleopatra from 1917,” says Bailey. “It’s so delicate and fragile, and the fact it still survives is amazing. Then we’ve got some outfits that Maria Callas wore for her performance at the Royal Opera House, a canary-yellow dress once worn by Ella Fitzgerald, handwritten lyrics by Sade, and make-up owned by Canadian actress Marie Pickford, plus video projections, artwork and music, with a programme of seminars and workshops, an accompanying book, and hopefully some live performances.”

So can the Diva exhibition, tracing the history of the word and its interpretation, steer it back towards a more positive meaning, ushering in the next stage of its development?

“I hope people visit it and view it as positive,” Bailey concludes. “Or get the sense that there’s definitely more to it. You have this strong courage, an appreciation for the craft, and a vision and creativity. And the personalities you might think of as divas, I hope they’re seen differently.”

Diva runs at the V&A London until April 7, 2024

7, 2024