blog.mode: addressing fashion

Paul Poiret (French, 1879–1944). “Théâtre des Champs-Élysées” Gown, 1913. Ivory silk damask, ivory silk net, and ivory China silk with rhinestone trim. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Paul D. Schurgot Foundation Fund, 2005 (2005.193a–e).

This particular model, worn by Paul Poiret’s wife, Denise, to the premiere of Le Sacre du printemps, was named after the recently opened Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where the Diaghilev and Stravinsky collaboration was inaugurated. Read more »

Vivienne Westwood (British, b. 1941). Shoes, autumn/winter 1990. Hot pink crocodile-embossed patent leather. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Millia Davenport and Zipporah Fleisher Fund, 2006 (2006.14a, b).

A strategy of épater les bourgeois has informed much of Vivienne Westwood’s career. While many of her early collections were directly associated with the incendiary margins of street style and the London club scene, she also incorporated references to the louche world of the sex trade. Read more »

Austrian Evening Dress, 1910–12. Pink silk satin, yellow silk satin, pink silk net with gold bead, rhinestone, and silk thread embroidery and tasseled rope appliqué, white silk lace trim. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Estate, 2003 (2003.46).

This evening dress from Vienna reflects a shift in international taste emanating from the couture houses of Paris. Read more »

Rei Kawakubo (Japanese, b. 1942) for Comme des Garçons (Japanese, founded 1969). Dress, 1983. Black wool jersey. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2003 (2003.79.21).

The impact of Rei Kawakubo’s designs in Paris in 1983 was groundbreaking. Her runway presentation, with its unconventional models wearing body-obscuring layers rendered in coarsely textured materials, was received as transgressive and anti-fashion. Read more »

Elsa Peretti (American, born Italy, 1940). Belt, 1973. Sterling silver and enamel. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 2004 (2004.20).

With few exceptions, Elsa Peretti’s jewelry is inspired by nature or the gesture of the human hand, whether as spontaneous calligraphy or the pressure of the thumb in clay. Read more »

Helmut Lang (Austrian, b. 1956). Evening Dress (detail), fall/winter 2004–5. White mushroom-pleated silk organza, white silk chiffon, and natural horsehair. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Mr. Helmut Lang, 2006 (2006.76).

Helmut Lang designs accrued “street cred” because their uncompromising modernism was also informed by the edginess of the urban demimonde. Read more »

Stephen Jones (British, b. 1957). “Crow” Mask, 2006. Black coq feathers, black plastic, black neoprene, and gold plastic and rhinestone. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Alfred Z. Solomon-Janet A. Sloane Endowment Fund, 2006 (2006.209).

The Costume Institute commissioned this mask for the 2006 exhibition “Anglomania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion.” Milliner Stephen Jones was given the problem of creating a headdress for a Christian Dior Haute Couture gown by John Galliano Read more »

Left: American Underdress, ca. 1827. White cotton and broderie anglaise trim. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Judith and Ira Sommer Gift, 2006 (2006.29.1); Right: American Dress, 1830–35. White cotton with white cotton lace trim. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Judith and Ira Sommer Gift, 2006 (2006.29.2).

The underdress shown at left is poised between a period of classicism, with its columnar silhouette, and eclectic romanticism, with its burgeoning skirt forms. Read more »

Manolo Blahnik (Spanish, b. 1942) and Damien Hirst (British, b. 1965). “Dot” Boots, 2002. White cotton canvas with polychrome polka-dot print. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Catharine Breyer Van Bomel Foundation Fund, 2003 (2003.52a, b).

In an intersection of contemporary art and fashion the shoe designer Manolo Blahnik worked with Damien Hirst on this design. Read more »

Yohji Yamamoto (Japanese, b. 1943). Dress, spring/summer 2005. Red hand-pleated silk crepe. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Friends of The Costume Institute Gifts, 2006 (2006.37).

When asked about the inspiration for his beautifully pleated gowns, Yohji Yamamoto replied equivocally, “Maybe Mme Grès—maybe.” Read more »