From 10 July to 25 October 2026, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea presents After Un percorso di lavoro (A Working Process). Fendi / Karl Lagerfeld 1985, revisiting the exhibition that opened in the museum’s galleries on 5 October 1985 to celebrate the first twenty years of the collaboration between FENDI and Karl Lagerfeld, a partnership that would continue until the designer’s death in 2019.
Produced by FENDI, which has celebrated its centenary, the exhibition was conceived by Maria Grazia Chiuri and curated by Maria Luisa Frisa. It opened on 9 July on the occasion of the Fendi Couture show, held in the GNAMC galleries devoted to twentieth-century art.
The current exhibition follows as closely as possible in the footsteps of the 1985 presentation, returning to the same museum but occupying different spaces. Conceived to illustrate the various stages leading from the initial idea through design development to the production of a garment, it is organised into the sections Tavolette, Caleidoscopio, Matrici Progettuali, Teatro, Pettine, Video, Schizzi and Computer, following a narrative sequence based on the one devised by Lagerfeld himself forty years ago. Restaging an exhibition that marked its era means exploring the history of fashion and bringing it back to life through a critical recontextualisation of the original objects and drawings, while seeking to reuse the historic display structures wherever possible and replacing only missing objects with heritage reproductions. The exhibition concludes with a selection from the extensive press coverage of 1985, offering a valuable opportunity to reflect on the evolution of fashion museology in Italy.
“This exhibition represents a chapter in the history of our country and of the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, which was a pioneer in bringing fashion into the museum, anticipating a multidisciplinary curatorial approach that is now being further strengthened through the inclusion of design within the institution,” states Director Renata Cristina Mazzantini. “Contemporary creativity, often rooted in design culture, increasingly blurs the boundaries between disciplines and thrives on cross-fertilisation. This exhibition celebrates the tradition of the ‘beautiful and well-made’, qualities that together give rise to objects of exceptional quality.”
After Un percorso di lavoro. Fendi /
Karl Lagerfeld
1985
After Steps Through Work.
Curated by Maria Luisa Frisa
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Viale delle Belle Arti 131, Roma
Dates: 10 July–25 October 2026
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 am–7:00 pm; closed on Mondays
Tickets: The exhibition is included in the admission ticket to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea