On the afternoon of Friday, June 20, the exhibition Ken Scott: Fashion and Flowers at Villa Monastero was inaugurated at Villa Monastero in Varenna. The exhibition will be open to visitors until October 10.
During the opening ceremony held in the Fermi Hall, speeches were given by the President of the Province of Lecco, Alessandra Hofmann; the Provincial Councillor for Culture and Cultural Heritage, Silvia Bosio; the President of the Ken Scott Foundation, Aldo Papaleo; and the President of the Mantero Group, Moritz Mantero.
Immediately afterwards, the Conservator of the House Museum, Anna Ranzi, led guests through the various rooms of the Villa and the exhibition space for a guided tour of the exhibition.
Exhibition Description
The exhibition is the result of a fruitful collaboration with the Ken Scott Foundation, which made its extraordinary historical archive available for a themed selection to mark the 30th anniversary of the Province of Lecco.
This initiative was conceived as a follow-up to the recently completed project to enhance the Botanical Garden, supported by the Province of Lecco with funding from the Ministry of Culture as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The first event in the project took place in 2024 with the exhibition The Botany of Emotions, focusing on the period when Villa Monastero belonged to Carolina Maumari, the adoptive granddaughter of the writer Alessandro Manzoni.
This new exhibition presents flowers and floral essences designed for fashion, selected in relation to the Villa and its garden: garments and accessories born from the imagination, the love of colour, and the spirit of modernity that defined Ken Scott’s entire production since the 1950s.
A carefully curated selection of thirty dresses featuring floral motifs drawn from the botanical collections of Villa Monastero’s Garden is displayed alongside four albums containing original drawings and sketches by the designer. These are complemented by thirty floral-themed scarf designs and four silk “swatch books” showing various colour tests for each pattern—clearly showcasing the designer’s extraordinary sense of colour.
Also on display are the famous bags and suitcases, several pieces of furniture (armchairs and poufs in vibrant hues), bijoux and everyday objects such as umbrellas and containers, as well as a ceramic dinnerware set featuring a bamboo motif (inspired by the ancient giant bamboo specimens visible from the Villa’s rear windows), complete with matching cutlery and glasses, all personalised with the KS monogram for the futuristic eats&drinks restaurant of 1969.
Welcoming visitors to the exhibition space is a portrait of the artist by Natino Chirico, a close friend of Ken Scott.
