As a designer who revels in fashion’s symbiotic relationship with art, it was only a matter of time before Marco Capaldo officially bridged the gap. Often turning to various art forms for inspiration, FW24 saw the designer look to the work of writer and curator Charlie Fox, dissecting his exhibition My Head is a Haunted House presented at Sadie Coles HQ in 2019 while SS24 transported us into David Lynch’s 1997 neo-noir Lost Highway. Fresh off the back of 16Arlington’s SS25 show, Capaldo is turning his hand to curation, building an exhibition in partnership with Almine Rech for Frieze London, “They [Almine Rech] presented me with this really exciting project, and essentially gave me carte blanche to curate an exhibition and to come up with a theme,” he tells us.

Landing on an exhibition titled Memories of the Future, in Capaldo’s words the show meditates on “how the past shapes our futures,” bringing together the work of fourteen contemporary artists who responded to the designer’s vision of memories as things which do not exist solely in one’s past but as constantly evolving entities that move forward with a person despite the passing of time.

Upon first entering No. 9 Cork Street, a series of orchids captured by Andy Warhol on a Polaroid camera appear on the first wall, “My first memory of art was a Warhol Polaroid. I knew I specifically wanted a Polaroid in the show,” Capaldo explains. Experiencing first-hand how art can evoke memories so poignantly, Warhol’s Polaroids were a fortuitous ode to his late co-founder and partner Federica ‘Kikka’ Cavenati, “Just before meeting with the gallery, I went into my cupboards with all my books, and I pulled out a Warhol biography that belonged to my partner, who unfortunately passed away. I opened it and I forgot that I took an orchid from her funeral bouquet and pressed it in the book. It all felt very serendipitous.”

Fascinated by the transient nature of recollection and how moments are captured, the likes of Mike Silva, George Rouy and Cecilia de Nisco present paintings built from memory, referencing personal photographs and playing on the at times uncomfortable yet familiar nature of remembering. Monochromatic imagery from the 1970s captured by American photographer Francesca Woodman stands alongside a sculpture of a dining table designed by Sandra Paulson, “I love the idea of how so many memories are made around a table, this piece felt quite fitting,” Capaldo tells us. John Giorno’s seminal Dial-A-Poem ‘free poetry service’ that was first shown at MoMA in 1970 stands at the back wall of the space with Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, Allen Ginsberg and many others waiting on the line to read you a poem.

The shimmering floral sculptures built by British artist Jesse Pollock for 16Arlington’s SS25 runway show stand tall in the exhibition, “Working so closely with him on the show, I fell in love with the process as much as I did with the outcome and how he works. All these markings on the piece are actually his teeth, he imprints his teeth or moulds them in clay and then casts it. It’s all about this idea of overconsumption and how we’re living in a world where we consume without even knowing we want it,” said Capaldo. Despite Memories of the Future being the designer’s first curatorial show, the experience shares a kinship with the experience of attending one of 16Arlington’s shows, as it is apparent Capaldo treats both with the same aptitude for ingenuity. After all, he says, “I’ve always loved beautiful things.”

Memories of the Future runs at Frieze No.9 Cork Street until 19th October, more info here.