In Singapore, Valentino Unveils A Surprise Tie-up With Artist Pinaree Sanpitak
The Roman maison continues to expand its efforts in lending support to the arts, with its latest project tapping on a powerhouse name best-known for her womanhood-affirming practice.
It's a week of major art with the ongoing Singapore Art Week, especially with today's opening of the much-awaited tentpole event Art SG, billed as Southeast Asia's largest contemporary art fair. For art – and fashion – lovers, there are still more pleasures to be had. In a nod to the momentous debut of Art SG, Valentino has just unveiled a special collaboration with renowned Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak that features the maison's new Toile Iconographe motif. The work is open to the public from now till January 25, at the lobby of The Warehouse Hotel.
The Toile Iconographe motif, Valentino's new signature print, was first introduced as part of the brand's Resort 2023 collection.
Now for the uninitiated: Pinaree Sanpitak is one of the region's foremost artists, known for her decades-long practice of celebrating the female form. She has come to be synonymous for her Breast Stupas, an ongoing series of sculptures that uses various metaphors to pay homage to the sacred – and sensual – power of the breast. The stupas (hemispherical structures with roots in Buddhism, the predominant religion of Sanpitak's home country) is one such metaphor.
And one could say breasts themselves are metaphors, what with their life-giving qualities and intrinsic connections to birth – indeed, the birth of Sanpitak's own son, fashion designer Shone Puipia, provided much of the basis for this series of work (more on that later).
This body of work naturally formed the basis for this collaboration with Valentino, which also marks the first time the artist is teaming up with a fashion brand. “It is a celebration of the body as the site of the sacred and the sensual," says Sanpitak. "I see the Valentino Toile Iconographe on the bodies of models and on my own sculptures in a (parallel) view to the maison’s values of freedom, community and inclusivity."
Since Sanpitak first coined the term "breast stupas" in 2001, the sculptures have appeared in innumerable iterations, sizes and materials. For this outing, a pair of sculptures titled Breast Stupas Valentino have been crafted in black and red respectively, wrapped in fabrics emblazoned with the maison's Toile Iconographe motif. Following the showing at the Havelock Road hotel, the works will be sold – with proceeds going to United Women Singapore, a fund that is dedicated to women’s empowerment and gender equality.
Pinaree Sanpitak collaborated with Valentino to birth two special versions of her signature Breast Stupas sculptures, wrapped in fabrics printed with the maison's Toile Iconographe motif. This latest project is much in line with Valentino's notable efforts in recent years in ramping up its support for the arts.
For fans of the artist, the Breast Stupas Valentino sculptures themselves are only one part of a larger experience curated by veteran curator Chomwan Weeraworawit – there's also an earlier work Breast Stupa Topiary (a set of two steel structures) as well as Breast Stupa Cookery, a by-invite-only ephemeral dining experience.
Below, the artist shares more of her thoughts on this special collaboration and more.
Hi Pinaree! I understand this is one of the first times you're working with a luxury house. What made you agree to working with a fashion collaborator?
Pinaree Sanpitak (PS): "Yes, this is my first time working with a fashion house. At first when I was contacted to do this project, they asked whether I could contribute paintings. (I considered it) but then I realised that Valentino had quite a number of projects with painters already. Besides which, I've been painting all through last year, so I also wanted to take a break from that. I said yes to the project because I was quite struck with the design (of Valentino's Toile Iconographe print); I like that it's subtle. Valentino also gave me a lot of trust to play with an icon of the house, which I find to be so important when collaborating."
Pictured: An up-close look at the details of Breast Stupas Valentino
Your practice also seems to have a deep, enduring relationship with tactility and materials – for example, the earlier Breast Stupas Topiaries combined stainless steel and botany. How did you approach working with a material like the Valentino Toile Iconographe fabric for this project?
PS: "I asked Shone Puipia (her son, who is a fashion designer with his own eponymous label) to make a prototype of my sculpture in toile fabric. When the official materials arrived (from Valentino), at first I thought I could insert a wire frame within the sculpture. But that didn't work as I required (custom wire frames to be constructed) and it was close to the festive period; most construction companies were starting to close for the holiday season. My solution was to fill each of the sculpture with 40 kilograms of stuffing and it came together alright in the end, with Shone's help."
Pictured: Sanpitak's earlier work Breast Stupa Topiaries, which is showcased together as part of this collaboration with Valentino
Given that your work explores the female anatomy, it may not be a stretch to say that there is a connection to clothing. Your son Shone is also a fashion designer. How would you describe your own relationship with fashion?
PS: "I became more interested in fashion when Shone decided to go to fashion school... I had no idea about how one learns fashion and then discovered through Shone that it’s not so different from a field like architecture. Fashion is quite different from the fine arts – you have to work with a lot of people from seamstresses to models and photographers and fashion designers have to make clothes work on the body, akin to crafting a house on top of the foundation. Fashion to me is a lot more public than the arts, in the sense that you wear it everyday and everyone interacts with it, one way or another.
Now, thanks to my son, I start looking at the seams to try and understand how a garment is constructed. It’s fascinating to see to see how a design grows from paper to the actual garment. This project with Valentino – I wouldn’t have been able to achieve it if Shone was not there and willing to help me execute it."
Pictured: A behind-the-scenes look at how the work came together
With ongoing fights over the female anatomy (such as the recent Roe vs Wade case in the United States), how do you think we should be understanding the female anatomy and womanhood?
PS: "I've been working on this topic for so long and it's quite something to see that there's still so much to be done. So many people have asked me – why the breasts? I mean, it started from when I was experiencing a tremendous change in my body through the act of having a child. I breastfed Shone for several years and so the work started from a very personal experience. I wanted to create the work to be this symbol of womanhood, not just motherhood, and have it cross the bridge that divides gender. It's not just about the woman; it's about human beings... It's very sad that (women's rights) are still being fought over but I think my work always carries within it a sense of hope that all will turn out well."
Pictured: Curator Chomwan Weeraworawit and artist Pinaree Sanpitak