Dressing Depero by Stefano Bressani at Milan Design Week 2021

Dressing Depero by Stefano Bressani is the title of the work presented at the 2021 Milan Design Week: a visceral tribute to the Futurist vision, between sculpture, fashion, and material.

“Dressing Depero”: when art dresses in the future

During Milan Design Week 2021, the Expowall Gallery hosted an artistic project capable of breaking boundaries between art, fashion, and design. With Dressing Depero, Stefano Bressani reinterprets the iconic figure of L’Omino che Beve by Fortunato Depero, transforming it into a three-dimensional work of striking visual and conceptual impact.

It is not merely a homage to Futurism, but a genuine dialogue between eras, languages, and masters: a work in which the present dresses the past and projects it toward new forms of expression.

Read “The theater of appearance (Homage to Depero)” by Robert Phillips

When art wears fabric

In Dressing Depero, Bressani makes a radical gesture: he dresses the Futurist figure with his unmistakable Sculture Vestite technique, transforming a twentieth-century icon into a sartorial artifact that unites form, matter, and concept.

Fabric — the artist’s chosen medium — becomes a language. Every fold, every weave tells not only of aesthetics but of a profound reflection on identity, transformation, and the narrative power of material.

The object is no longer just an object: it becomes an experience, a visual performance, a living artistic act.

A bridge between tradition and innovation

The strength of this work lies in its balance: the lightness of fabric meets the energy of Futurism; the precision of form embraces Bressani’s creative freedom.

In this fusion, art is no longer representation but environment — no longer static, but a living coexistence of past and present. Fabric, like the artist’s vision, is in constant motion.

Giovanni Gastel’s photography: art within art

Adding further significance to this tribute is the collaboration with Giovanni Gastel, master of Italian photography, who captured and immortalized the essence of the work in a timeless shot.

The result is a photograph that is both document and poetry — an iconic portrait that forever seals the encounter between two visions, two generations, two artistic worlds.

Read “Letter to Giovanni Gastel”

Beyond design: a declaration of intent

Dressing Depero is not merely an artistic project; it is a poetic statement. An invitation to go beyond the limits of the familiar, to play with matter, to merge disciplines, to dress art in new perspectives.

Through his work, Bressani reminds us that true art is born from the courage to reinvent oneself, from fidelity to one’s roots, and from the will to shape the present through the memory of the past. A creative journey made of intuition, technique, vision, and passion.