On the occasion of its 260th anniversary, PORZELLAN MANUFAKTUR NYMPHENBURG has launched the limited COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE — COUTURE EDITION 2008. 16 internationally-acclaimed fashion designers were invited to create “new clothes” in the form of a painted dress for their favourite figure from the COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE (1759/69) figurines, the most artistic ensemble by rococo sculptor Franz Anton Bustelli.

Both shooting stars of the fashion scene such as Gareth Pugh and Viktor & Rolf, as well as some of the most established couturiers such as Vivienne Westwood and Christian Lacroix have engaged in this ambitious project. This reissue of the 16 figurines in the collection is limited to 25 copies each. On the occasion of its first presentation at a former kiln hall at the PORZELLAN MANUFAKTUR NYMPHENBURG, Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram have developed an exhibition architecture highlighting the very characteristics of the COUTURE EDITION 2008.

All Nymphenburg products are made entirely by hand, using only the most refined techniques; techniques that remain essentially unchanged since the 18th century. To create a single figurine of the COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE collection, approximately 100 single parts are individually cast by hand in the moulding shop and then assembled in the luting shop. For this exhibition, all of the component parts that make up a single COMMEDIA figure were gathered and presented together for the first time in the history of Nymphenburg.

For the COUTURE EDITION, each of the fashion designers was awarded “carte blanche” to redesign the painting of the figurine. The couturiers were invited to develop “new clothes” for their preferred figurine, without changing the original shape of the COMMEDIA figure. In each case a lengthy process was undertaken at the Nymphenburg colour laboratory to match the intended design with the vast colour-chemical library at Nymphenburg. In certain cases entirely new colours were developed solely for use on a single, limited-edition figurine.

The exhibition presents both the original design drawings as well as the “pattern plates” (Musterteller), on which the couturiers’ designs were transferred to the Nymphenburg colours and which serve as the final samples for the master painters.

Finally, the limited-edition COLLECTORS’ BOOK accompanying the COUTURE EDITION was introduced at Palais 6 of the Nymphenburg manufactory. For the exhibition a selection of the approximately 1.000 photographs by Florian Böhm which make up the COLLECTORS’ BOOK are exhibited on custom-designed easels. These photographs show each of the 16 couturiers’ studios, thus revealing the final link in the development process behind the project.

After the presentation in Nymphenburg, the COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE — COUTURE EDITION 2008 exhibition has been on show at Palais Beauhernais, the German Ambassador’s residency in Paris. Later in 2008 it toured London, Düsseldorf and Venice.