Frassa

Gherardo (1943). An organizer and curator of exhibitions, a profession that he began in order to “provide a stage” for the collection of jeans and ties that he created in his first business (he would later become an antiques dealer) as a seller of secondhand trousers, shirts, and suits at Surplus, the first shop of its kind, which opened in Milan in 1974, on Corso Garibaldi. He brought a fashion for secondhand clothes into the everyday dressing of young people and of some older snobs who liked elegantly faded and torn jackets. This job turned him into an archeologist of fashion, rummaging through old trunks, in the “bundles” of secondhand clothes that arrived at Resina (near Naples) from America, and in attics. An archeologist and, through his passion, a collector. Thanks to this precious collecting, he organized three exhibitions: The Jeans Century at La Rinascente in Milan in 1982; Dreaming Some Ties at Surplus in 1983, with one thousand American ties from the 1930s to the 1970s; and A Tie at the Museum at Spazio Inghirami in Palazzo Acerbi in Milan. Since that time, Frassa has specialized in the organization of exhibitions, closing his first business and selling the shop. Among the exhibitions for which he has designed the sets are: Valentina at Modit (Milan, 1985), Forattini’s Republic (traveling, 1987-88), The Clothes of Adventure, Anglo-Florentines: A Love Story, Art Nouveau Fabrics, Fred Astaire, Gabriele D’Annunzio’s Wardrobe, The Whimsical Rule (Pitti Immagine Uomo, 1986-1996), The Eighty Years of the Corrierino (Milan, 1989), The Futurist Revolution of Clothing (traveling, 1986), Bulgari, A Monograph (traveling, 1995-99), Cut Out (Milan, San Vittore Prison, 1998), A Mirror of Europe (2001-2003) and Absolute Covers (the most beautiful covers of LP records, the Museums of Porta Romana, Milan, 2002).