“It’s something that we all could do more, which is to do things that you don’t know what we’re doing. And it’s such a luxury. We’ve been talking about creating your salon. So we may be starting tonight.” Tilda Swinton told the audience addressing collaborator and friend Olivier Saillard at the ultra chic and intimate Gucci-hosted dinner in Paris to celebrate their performance at Festival d’Automne.

Embodying Pasolini is an original performance created by Olivier Saillard and Tilda Swinton at the Sozzani Foundation until 10th December. The piece brings together a wide selection of vibrant costumes designed by Danilo Donati, prepared by the Farani workshop for Pier Paolo Pasolini.

A set of nearly thirty costumes, dresses, coats, and hats are activated, worn, folded and delicately manipulated by Swinton and Saillard from The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Oedipus Rex, A Thousand and One Nights and Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, all of which are usually archived in Rome. Embodying Pasolini, the crescendo of a year celebrating Pasolini’s life and oeuvre, reinforces the long-lasting and fruitful collaboration between the Italian genius director and Donati.

Embodying Pasolini is the fourth collaboration between the Scottish artist and the fashion historian, who began working on their performances in 2012 when Saillard was the director of the Musée de la Mode at the Palais Galliera. Their first piece was The Impossible Wardrobe, which saw Swinton activate garments from the museum’s archives.

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