Andrea Incontri

Le TipeUmane are rapid yet detailed sketches of female figures, which Italian designer Andrea Incontri draws freehand on Instagram on videos and photos of his daily life. Ladies walking with their dogs or young girls going out for shopping... women of dif- ferent ages and with diverse personalities, these characters wear an imaginative variety of outfits, carefully curated in every detail, which reveal their creator’s awareness of contemporary aesthetics and social norms.

Referring to Honoré de Balzac’s ComédieHumaine, Caroline Corbetta coined the term ‘Le TipeUmane’ in 2016, when she curated the first show dedicated to Incontri’screa- tions at Il Crepaccio in Milan. The present exhibition explores a further development of the designer’s research, which today combines digital communication with artisa- nal quality. More than one hundred TipeUmane, skillfully embroidered and framed with precious fabrics and materials, are displayed as an array of the most varied female types. Each one of them bears a name automatically generated by Instagram starting from two casual letters. Sally, Cassandra, Victoria and all the others are associated to a place, which is randomly generated by the social network’s geolocation software. Along with the videos, originally shared on Instagram, and special dresses designed by In- contri for this project, the infinite diversity of Le TipeUmane embodies the designer’s inclusive view of an entirely female universe.