The Australian arm of luxury jewellery brand Bulgari has partnered with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), to launch a local project dedicated to fashion design.
Bulgari, originally majority-owned by the Bulgari family in Rome, has been part of the LVMH Group since 2011.
The brand strengthened its Australian ties last night with the launch of the Bulgari Funding Program – NGV International Fashion Acquisitions at a gala event held in the Great Hall at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Designed to fund the acquisitions of major works by leading international fashion designers specifically for the NGV, the partnership aims to provide the opportunity to increase the gallery’s valuable collection.
To launch the Bulgari Funding Program – NGV International Fashion Acquisitions, the NGV has also acquired three major works by important French designers Pierre Cardin, Claude Montana and Thierry Mugler.
Commenting on the alliance, Bulgari UK and Australia managing director Julie Ann Morrison said the start of this major funding program for the NGV was a sign of Bulgari's commitment to preserve the industry's gems.
“We are delighted to support the NGV in acquiring rare works by leading international fashion designers from the 1950s to the 1990s. This period was a very creative period in the history of Bulgari design when the third generation of the Bulgari family took over the company with a youthful exuberance which challenged traditional forms of jewellery design and making and transformed the very idea of what constituted fine jewellery - so we feel a special affinity for this project,” she said.
“We have contributed to the NGV Fashion and Textile collection since 2011 and we now welcome the opportunity to expand our collaboration through the launch of a program dedicated to supporting the collection of significant pieces from the world’s most acclaimed and innovative designers.
“It is a pleasure for Bulgari to collaborate with the NGV on this exciting project which exemplifies the aesthetic and artistic values which we share."
NGV director, Tony Ellwood added that Bulgari has been a style leader throughout its 129-year history and the NGV is delighted to be supported by such an important design icon.
“Over the coming years, through the support of the Bulgari Funding Program – NGV International Fashion Acquisitions, the NGV will be conducting a world-wide search for exceptional examples of works by high fashion designers of the 1960s through to the contemporary,” he said.
“We will be focussing on key pieces by key designers. The acquisitions will later be revealed in various displays that are destined to reflect the glamorous, audacious, unconventional and ground-breaking spirit of this period.”
In 2011, Bulgari also supported the NGV in the acquisition of a major work for the International Fashion and Textiles Collection. The brand funded a spectacular gala event in the Great Hall and the proceeds from that evening supplemented a donation the funds for the purchase of a rare and beautiful velvet coat, by celebrated Venetian artist and designer, Mariano Fortuny.
The outcome of this partnership has spurred on this longer term partnership and goal.
The NGV currently has the strongest collection of fashion in the southern hemisphere and leading the Asia-Pacific region in collecting and exhibiting international and Australian fashion.
Bulgari was founded in Rome in 1884 as a single jewellery shop, whose magnificent jewellery creations soon became emblems of Italian excellence. Throughout the last few decades Bulgari developed into a global luxury brand renowned for its highly creative design in jewels, watches and accessories, and retailing in the major luxury retail precincts of the world.