The Vintage Fashion collection at the Malaga Automobile and Fashion Museum (Museo Automovilístico de Málaga, Malaga, Andalusia, Spain) is a fusion of art, fashion, design, luxury and history.
In addition to a representative variety of models from great brands – Hispano Suiza, Bugatti, Delage, Packard, Auburn, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Mercedes, Ferrari, Lancia – the museum has a vintage fashion section.
Many superstars and famous fashion designers took part in the creation of the collection, including: Balmaine, Yves Saint Laurent, Ungaro, Serge Lepage, Loris Azzaro, Mugler, Luis Ferado, Lanvin and of course Chanel.
The museum also hosts one of the most interesting headwear exhibitions from the early 20th century to the 70s.
The new temporary exhibition at the museum is called Black Divas. Here are models of hats designed by renowned haute couture designers for the most famous representatives of the world of luxury, music, theater and cinema: Mata Hari, Peggy Guggenheim, Sarah Bernhardt, Isadora Duncan, Greta Garbo, Wallis Simpson, Eva Peron, Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Delilah, Audrey Hepburn, Romy Schneider, Elizabeth Taylor…
The collection “From Balenciaga to Schiaparelli”, dedicated to designer accessories, includes more than 300 items, including vintage hat boxes and suitcases from the 1920s and 1950s.
Until the 60s, the hat was almost the most important part of a lady’s wardrobe! Among the names of designers: Chanel, Dior, Balmain, Patu, Fes, Lanvin, Oleg Cassini, Balenciaga, Schiaparelli.
In the 1930s, in Paris, the haute couture hat was considered a work of art equivalent to a painting or sculpture.
The crown jewel of the museum’s collection is the Givenchy dress for Naomi Campbell.
Colors of the “Belle Époque”
The “Belle Époque” is a catharsis of colors. This time corresponds to the heyday of impressionism, led by its prominent representative, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and his experiments with colors.
Christian Lacroix inherited this idea. His jacket is on display in the museum. Skirt from the Paris Saint-Germain collection.
Neoclassicism
The end of the second Empire style in France and the beginning of the “Belle Époque”. Black dress by Charles Frederick Worth, an English fashion designer. He is considered by many fashion historians to be the father of haute couture. His long seams (princess seams) ensure the perfect fit.
Richmond, Picnic Car
A classic women’s picnic outfit and an American “Sunday car” for the bourgeois class. The museum displays a very rare model, only two of them survived (the second can be seen at the Wayne Country Museum in Richmond, Indiana).
Edward Henry Molyneux and Lancia
“No woman considers herself to be either slim enough or rich enough.” This quote comes from legendary Irish fashion designer Edward Henry Molyneux. It was he who created the wedding dress for Princess Marina for her wedding to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, one of the most influential members of the royal family. The association with the Lancia brand is explained by the aristocracy of the designer.
Azzaro/Topolino: “Piccolo but big”
A Sicilian by birth, Loris Azzaro created his “dramatic theatrical dress” displayed in the museum. Exhibited together with the Topolino car, which was very popular with the stars of Italian cinema – Frederico Fellini and Claudia Cardinale.
Louis Delâge and René Lalique have created a glass “Eagle” – the emblem of Delâge.
Pierre Balmain joined them to create the Delage car on display. This brand is one of Angelina Jolie’s favorite car brands.
Tan Giudicelli, actor and costume designer best known for his films Histoire d’Or (1975), entered the fashion world in the 1980s before becoming a famous perfume manufacturer.
His dress is the perfect complement to the Star Wars model on display in the museum.
Young designer from Galicia, Eva Soto, strives to combine art and fashion. Three of her outfits have already hit the wardrobe of the singer Lady Gaga.
The Cord USA 1937 Westchester is one of the most visually astonishing cars of the time. Unfortunately, the car had a very short history of existence – only four years before becoming another victim of the Great Depression.
The museum demonstrates the close relationship between famous classic car brands and the most popular high fashion brands:
Chanel / Mercedes
Dior / Ferrari
Givenchy / Rolls Royce
Lanvin / Bentley
Schiaparelli / Bugatti 
Yves Saint Laurent / Jaguar
Alexander McQueen / Aston Martin 
Valentino / Maserati Alfa Romeo
Gucci Prada / Cadillac 
Versace / Corvette
Galliano / Excalibur …
Glamorous rock. Great rock performers – Vladzu Valentino Liberace, Elvis Presley, Prince, David Bowie – have contributed not only to the development of music, but also to the history of the fashion world.
Versailles
Dress by Nina Ricci for opera singer Nicky Nancel, lead vocalist of the musical “L’Amour masqué” by Sasha Guitri and Andre Messager and the opera “La Belle Hélèn” by Jacques Offenbach.
A pink 1971 Cadillac Eldorado VII was used for the 2011 Miuccia Prada marketing campaign.
Elvis Presley, a big fan and connoisseur of this brand, presented the exact same Cadillac to his mom.
Hotchkiss is a luxury cars produced between 1903 and 1955 by the French company Hotchkiss et Cie in Saint-Denis, Paris. The “engine” of a Gold Fever-1929 by Karina Pereira is on display at the museum.
Black room
The rivalry and “friendly hostility” between the creative personalities of the leading brands is limitless and directly depends on the whims and characters of their unpredictable clients.
Fashion victim
The exhibition showcases symbolic images of excessive and irrational consumption that captures the essence of modern society. We are surrounded by an intrusive advertising invasion and an endless supply …
Photo: Irina Rybalchenko
