Mottola Molfino

Alessandra (1939). Art scholar and fashion historian. Particularly known for her research since 1967, first as curator, and then director of the Poldi Pezzoli museum in Milan. She was responsible for the organization, installation, and catalogues of various exhibitions. These include: I pizzi: moda e simbolo (1977); 1922-1943: vent’anni di moda italiana (1980); and Gioielli. Moda. Magia. Sentimento (1986). From 1979 to 1989 she was also in charge of the scientific cataloguing of the museum’s collections, during which she personally documented the collections of woven fabrics, lace, and embroidery. Her research into textiles led to her founding, with other academics, the Centro italiano per lo Studio della Storia del Tessuto (Cisst), of which she became the first president. She collaborated with the municipality of Venice in 1980 to set up the Lace Museum on the island of Burano. Six years later she was one of a group of organizers of the exhibition on the history of dress at Munich’s Stadtmuseum, Anziehungskrafte. Varieté de la Mode 1786-1986. In 1987 she was one of the writers of the two-volume La Moda Italiana, published by Electa. She also participated in the review Gianni Versace: l’abito per pensare in 1989. With Grazietta Butazzi she produced the nine-volume series Idee di Moda published by De Agostini in 1991 and 1992. She planned and organized the new fashion documentation centre, Moda Documentata in Milan. In 1995 she became part of the Milanese cultural commission for the care and valuation of decorative arts. She now is one of the directors of Milan Municipality’s Culture and Museums section, collaborating with Claudio Salsi, the Director of Civic Collections of Decorative Arts, in the creation of new textiles and fashion spaces at the Castello Sforzesco.