Antonio Ratti's collection of ancient Indian and European cashmere shawls was the subject of many exhibitions over time. For each of the exhibitions, the best pieces of the collection were displayed together with preliminary sketches and comparison material. All the exhibitions also featured printed fabrics that the industrialist from Como created taking inspiration from traditional shawl motifs, as a testimony of how much contemporary creativity owes to the past.

The first exhibition took place in 1985, in a building in Lungo Lario Trento 9, Como, the first headquarters of the Foundation. Subsequently, the collection was exhibited in 1986 at the New York Fashion Institute of Technology and in the following year at the Tokyo Bunka Gakuen Institute. In 1988, the exhibition was held in Milan in the Sala della Balla of Castello Sforzesco. Finally, in 1995, it returned to Como in the frame of the Ex-church of San Francesco, the Spazio Culturale Antonio Ratti.

Publication curated by Monique Lévi-Strauss
Project set up by Charles Pfister (New York)
Project set up by Luigi Caccia Dominioni (Tokyo, Milan, and Como)