ARCHIVIO J.M.Ribot Opens Immersive Installation in Beijing

ARCHIVIO J.M.Ribot has launched an immersive installation and its latest capsule collections at Dover Street Market Beijing. The event features the brand's 21st capsule and a special 10th-anniversary capsule titled "The Hollow Carnival."

Founded by designer Karim Fares, the brand is built upon a personal archive of antique textiles, vintage clothing, and old objects. It rejects fast fashion trends in favor of slow, locally made Italian craftsmanship. The brand's philosophy is to preserve the traces of time found in its materials. Faded textures, mending stitches, and worn imperfections are integral to each garment.

The Hollow Carnival Concept

The 10th-anniversary capsule, "The Hollow Carnival," draws inspiration from the colorful remnants left after a carnival ends. According to the brand, this serves as a metaphor for contemporary society. People chase instant consumption and sensory pleasure. Yet, beneath an appearance of abundance lies a sense of emptiness and melancholy. This concept forms the core of the 21st collection presented in Beijing.

The Immersive Installation

The installation, titled A Body Without a Body, integrates with the architectural structure of Dover Street Market Beijing. The building itself becomes part of the artwork. Antique screens enclose the exhibition space. Layered scraps of aged wallpaper cover these screens and the venue's columns, evoking geological strata built from accumulated memories.

At the center sits an antique sofa displaying timeworn vintage teddy bears marked by repairs. Arrangements of dried flowers and ribbons accompany them. Karim Fares describes this as holding a collective memory in which childhood, emotion, and time intertwine.

The central work, A Body Without a Body, is a sculpture of layered clothing piled atop one another. Beneath torn, weathered fabrics, layers of old garments gradually emerge. The brand states that each textile layer is a sediment of memory. The body has vanished, but the wear and mending preserved in the fabric recall human traces.

The Brand's Creative Threads

The exhibition also highlights the brand's two principal creative approaches. The first is a limited collection newly made from antique fabrics. The second is the one-of-a-kind Riforma collection, created by reworking vintage garments. Every piece is handmade in Italy.

Industrial overlocking is avoided. Instead, the brand focuses on interior details like hand-worked buttonholes and irregular stitching. These details are meant to invite visitors to linger over the stories held within the materials.