FASHION

DON’T MISS: FRANCESCO VEZZOLI YOOX EDITIONS

Over the years, Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli has used a phalanx of A-listers in various films and performances (Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams, among them) as commentary on today’s celeb-obsessed culture. But for...

by Fan Zhong

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Over the years, Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli has used a phalanx of A-listers in various films and performances (Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams, among them) as commentary on today’s celeb-obsessed culture. But for his limited editions for Yoox on sale today, he’s made himself into a ’50s movie star postcard, replete with the artist’s signature glittery embroidery. “It would have been out of place to use someone else’s face to raise money,” he said of the edition of 399, the sale of which goes to benefit FAI, a nonprofit dedicated to restoration and conservation of historic Italian buildings.

Earlier this year, earthquakes devastated the Emilia-Romagna region. Vezzoli vacationed in the area when he was young, and he felt compelled to help rebuild the damage. “I am very attached to this place,” he said. Usually, his needlework pieces are sewn painstakingly by hand, but for the artist’s first series of multiples (they sell for $399 each) he understandably ceded the handiwork to a sewing machine. “Anyway,” he explained, “my hands are tired of doing needlework.”