Ruffo Leathers' 1997 Shearling Design Challenge

I haven’t uploaded in a while but it seems like some of you guys are greedy for some new scans! I’m still in the process of getting settled living in NYC and still don’t have most of my stuff, including a scanner. The beauty of NYC though is that I managed to find an old scanner for FREE on someone’s stoop! So without further ado I have some fresh scans for you guys.

Ruffo, for those unaware, is an Italian luxury leather goods brand started in 1966. No spoilers but, there may but a much larger article on the brand in the works for a certain other site, so I won’t dive too much into the brand generally for now. Beginning in the late 90s, Ruffo began their ‘Research’ project where they would invite different designers in to design a few collections. Collaborators of the Ruffo Research project included Raf Simons, Veronique Branquinho, A.F. Vandervorst, Haider Ackermann, and more.

Prior to Ruffo Research however, was this design challenge created in collaboration with Vogue Italia in 1997.

“These garments and accessories were designed by 21 major fashion designers as part of an initiative launched by Ruffo with Vogue Italia in 1997. The challenge was to explore the possibilities of "alternative furs" such as shearling. The pieces have recently been donated to the permanent collection of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. They will be on exhibition at the museum from November 2, 1998 through January 9, 1999. Numerous different processing techniques have enabled each designer to interpret shearling in his or her own inimitable style. The extraordinary array includes a Philip Treacy hat, boots by Manolo Blahnik, a bag by Prada and coats, suits, dresses and other creations by Galliano, Versace and Helmut Lang. The Ruffo Research Spring/Summer Women's collection 1999 will be designed by Véronique Branquinho who has designed a new piece especially for the exhibition.”

So many amazing designers are featured in this project producing some of the rarest items from each of them. Some of my favorites I’ve included here are Calvin Klein’s futuristic sherling tank top, Prada’s sidebag, and Alaïa’s stunning flight jacket. To my knowledge, FIT still has all these items in their collection but only show the Anna Sui look and Blahnik boots on their site.

As always, the full scans are only available for paid subscribers, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to access my full archive!