When Venetian luxury ruled the world

Visitors today flock to Venice to pay homage to the sumptuous textiles of the city’s sartorial reign. Liza Foreman explores an extraordinary legacy.

From the San Marco tapestries to lace exhibits at a small atelier on Burano island, visitors can see textiles everywhere in Venice today. “Places such as the Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia, the Fortuny Palace and the Mocenigo trace a fashion story that bears witness to the role of creativity in fabric innovation and fashion for an entire period of Venetian history,” says Alberto Bevilacqua of the weaving company Tessitura Luigi Bevilacqua, which dates to the 1700s. “Around the year 1500, there were about 6,000 looms in the city employing thousands of people. Today there is not much of the industry left.” “Throughout the Serenissima Republic, Venice had the most important textile trade in the world,” says Chiara Squarcina, a curator at the Mocenigo Museum of Textiles and Costumes, which gives an overview of Venice’s leading role in this slice of sartorial history. The palazzo’s archives reflect Venice’s history in the production of what was a hot collector’s item before fashion became more popular.

These artists combined ancient techniques with new patterns inspired by Art Nouveau and Art Deco – Isabella Campagnol

With its permanent displays, an education centre and its vast archives, Palazzo Mocenigo pays homage to the history of fashion and textiles in Venice and beyond. At the museum, some of the local industry’s most recognisable motifs and styles are displayed. “Silk damask with a caper motif is a typical Renaissance pattern, used both for clothing and for curtains,” says the Venetian textile and costume historian Isabella Campagnol. “At Palazzo Mocenigo, look out for the vesta or dress of the Procuratori and Altobasso (pile-on-pile) that was used for the stoles of the...Read more...

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