Schiaparelli And Prada Met Exhibition: Was It A Dud? (POLL)

While the excitement surrounding "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" didn't have quite the same fervor as its predecessor “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” (understatement of the year?), we expected that it would fare pretty well. But, according to The New York Times, the exhibition closed quietly Sunday with only about half of the number of attendees as McQueen had the year before.

To put this stat into perspective, the McQueen exhibition came on the heels of the designer's suicide and the impassioned outpouring that ensued. The number of people that came out to see it -- 661,509 -- was far higher than any costume exhibition on record at The Met and the show's run had to be extended twice, so it wasn't exactly an easy act to follow.

That said, Schiap and Prada's 339,838 attendance is still a bit lackluster. The show in 2008, "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy," brought out 576,000 viewers while the Jacqueline Kennedy show in 2001 had a turnout of 559,902. Coco Chanel, another big-ticket name, managed an attendance of 463,600. And even though Prada is also an important name in the fashion industry, perhaps her pairing with Schiaparelli was not enough draw for the masses?

This possibility, of course, was not unrecognized by the curators of the show. In an interview with New York Magazine, co-curator Andrew Bolton, said that he had no intention of replicating the "emotional" frenzy of the McQueen exhibition:

We deliberately wanted to do something more high-concept and more intellectual than an emotional experience. We also wanted to focus on designers who are able to marry their conceptualism with practicality.

Well, we're fairly certain that The Metropolitan Museum of Art is not wanting for visitors, so we applaud the curators for putting together a show that they felt passionate about even if they knew it might be a dud. Do you think the choice to feature Prada and Schiaparelli was a mistake?

Quick Poll

Was "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" a dud?

Yes! Can we have a more exciting subject for next year's exhibition?

No! These two designers are icons and deserved a show no matter how small the turnout.

VOTE

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Take a look at the stunning guests at the "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" opening gala!

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• Beyonce in Givenchy

  (WireImage photo)

• Anna Wintour in Prada

  (WireImage photo)

• Bee Shaffer in Erdem

  (Getty photo)

• Anna Wintour in Prada and Bee Shaffer in Erdem

  (Getty photo)

• Carey Mulligan in Prada

  (Getty photo)

• Grace Coddington in Prada

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• Coco Rocha in vintage Givenchy

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• Greta Gerwig in Prabal Gurung and carrying Nancy Gonzalez

  (Getty photo)

• Camilla Belle in Ralph Lauren

  (Getty photo)

• Tim Tebow in Ralph Lauren

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• Lana Del Rey in Altuzarra

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• Jessica Paré in L'Wren Scott

  (Getty photo)

• Jamie King in Topshop

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• Dree Hemingway in Topshop and Philip Green

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• Solange Knowles in Rachel Roy and Jennifer Fisher Jewelry

  (Getty photo)

• Solange Knowles in Rachel Roy and Jennifer Fisher Jewelry and Rachel Roy in Rachel Roy and carrying Nancy Gonzalez

  (Getty photo)

• Elizabeth Banks in Mary Katrantzou

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• Amber Heard in Zac Posen

  (Getty photo)

• Zac Posen and Amber Heard in Zac Posen

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• Jessica Alba in Michael Kors

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• January Jones in Versace

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• Brooke Shields

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• Allison Williams in Ralph Lauren

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• Paula Patton in Vera Wang

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• Vera Wang in Vera Wang

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• Vera Wang and Wendi Deng in Vera Wang

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• Paula Patton, Vera Wang and Wendi Deng in Vera Wang

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• Lena Dunham in Wes Gordon

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• Lena Dunham in Wes Gordon and Hamish Bowles

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• Ed Westwick in Prada

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• Chace Crawford in Kenneth Cole

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• Michelle Dockery in Ralph Lauren

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• Amy Poehler in Fotini

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• Amy Poehler in Fotini and Will Arnett

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• Debra Messing in Fred Leighton Jewels

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• Dee Ocleppo and Tommy Hilfiger in Tommy Hilfiger

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• Ivanka Trump in Peter Pilotto

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• Dakota Fanning in Louis Vuitton

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• Sandra Lee

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• Bruno Mars in Prada

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• LaLa Anthony in Zac Posen and Carmelo Anthony

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• Claire Danes in J. Mendel and Van Cleef & Arpels

  (Getty photo)

• Claire Danes in J. Mendel and Van Cleef & Arpels and Hugh Dancy in Prada

  (Getty photo)

• Lea Michele in Diane von Furstenberg

  (Getty photo)

• Karolina Kurkova in Rachel Zoe

  (Getty photo)

• Rachel Zoe and Karolina Kurkova in Rachel Zoe

  (Getty photo)

• Hilary Swank in Michael Kors

  (Getty photo)

• Hilary Swank in Michael Kors and Michael Kors

  (Getty photo)

• Rooney Mara in Givenchy

  (Getty photo)

• Bianca Brandolini D'Adda in Dolce & Gabbana

  (Getty photo)

• James Murphy and Christina Topsøe

  (Getty Images)

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Comments

[LCSWquilter]

10:02 PM on 08/22/2012

I saw the show and thought the concept had some merit, but the presentation was awful. The video screens were not fully visible from any angle because the mannequins and visitors shuffling through the show twisting and turning through a rat maze layout were in front of the screens, blocking the view. The audio was terrible. By today's standards the fashion was 'meh,' but was it was significant in historical context. Overall, it wasn't worth the trip into New York City.

[wompwompwomp]

04:06 PM on 08/22/2012

I saw the exhibit and my thought is that the curator did not do a very good job at picking the pieces and presenting them. The side by side comparisons sometimes didn't make sense or the pieces the alluded to were not there to see. IMO why were they even compared?!

[peterbeagle]

03:04 PM on 08/22/2012

some – SOME - of the pieces were magnificent, but the show itself, meh. Too squished together, confused and busy w/too many mirrors.

[millebocca]

07:58 AM on 08/22/2012

elsa's autobiography is a must read. this woman's life view, her creative genius and her resourcefulness through the hardest of times is amazing.

[New York Woman]

12:22 AM on 08/22/2012

Schiaparelli was pure genius. Prada looked rather silly.

[Cynth]

04:49 PM on 08/21/2012

Intellectual or "high concept," the pairing was a silly concept for an exhibit. It should have been a fashion history course term paper or project, not an exhibit.

[dtroppy]

04:12 PM on 08/21/2012

Why does everything have to be a competition?

[millebocca]

07:55 AM on 08/22/2012

It was not formulated as a contest - it was a juxtaposition with interesting tangents throughout, designed to bridge time and eras.
Perhaps your question is a clue to this show's problem - that the largely american audiences, so conditioned to view everything as a contest, didn't get it.

[wompwompwomp]

04:07 PM on 08/22/2012

Not really, but thanks.

[alchemy]

01:28 PM on 08/21/2012

Schiaparelli should have had a solo show/ she was a genius. Prada is junk in comparison.

[syds180turn]

04:50 PM on 08/21/2012

I couldn't agree with you more. Schiaparelli is deserving of so much better than to be paired with a designer like Prada that puts out clothing that no normal person would dare wear or for the most part, afford. Elsa Schiaparelli was an icon and her clothing is elegant and classic....right up there with Chanel.

[Sunflo]

03:21 AM on 08/22/2012

Schiaparelli is a legend.

[Hardyman1966]

12:45 PM on 08/21/2012

Prada has always been an overrated dud.

[edsonvcn]

03:08 PM on 08/21/2012

And way overpriced.!