Womenswear - "Innocence" dress created within the framework of the In Circulation: Romani Design project

The "Innocence" dress was created as part of the exhibition series In Circulation, launched by the Contemporary Design Department in 2018. According to the concept, the invited designer will select an object or ensemble of objects from the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts, and will create a new design as inspired by the object(s). Our fifth invited artist in the series is Romani Design founded by Erika Varga and Helena Varga in 2010. The sisters chose a total of six art objects from the collections of the museum. It is not by chance that these are all devotional pictures depicting either the Virgin Mary or other female saints, which provided the inspiration for the designers to create six enchantingly richly patterned women’s garments and coordinated accessories (see also 2021.515.1.; 2021.516.1-2.; 2021.517.1-2.; 2020.518.1-2.; 2021.519.1.; 2021.521.1.; 2021.522.1.).

The colour and the pattern of the garment symbolises the heavenly Paradise and the innocence of the one arriving to Heaven, hence the name Innocence. The puckish cherub flying about the gentle portrait of their grandmother on the white skirt is none other than the younger brother of the designers. The portrait of their grandmother has been crowned, with a “gypsy cart wheel” at its peak, which is the symbol of both the rising and setting Sun, as well as continuous rebirth.