Sophie Gimbel- Fashioning American Couture

Hand-embellished evening dress with cap sleeves, 1953

"It's all too much, and that's where the loveliness - the couture moment - begins. The clothes are extravagant and unreal, but they don't seem camp. They don't seem artificial or out of this world, just symbolic of a common human hope that the world could be something other than it is - younger and more musical and less exhausting and better lit. It proposed that the little moments of seduction on which, when we look back, so much of our life depends, could unfold as formally as they deserve to, and all dressed up…

Couture is a romantic cartoon. It's a caricature of the romantic impulse, with a cartoon's exaggerations but a cartoon's energy and lighthearted poetry too. The thing you feel in a couture moment isn't 'What a wonderful dress' or, as you do with higher kinds of art, 'What a good place the world is,' but, more simply, 'I'm in love.'" Adam Gopnik from Paris to the Moon. 

Evening dress with pin tucks set into "hand-span", waist, 1952

If you read this blog, then you know that there is a special place in my heart for achingly beautiful things and the craftsmen (and women) and artisans who pour themselves into their creations. And if we’re talking about lovely things, surely couture with its singular vision tops the list. Couture is just breathtaking with its precision, beautifully resolved ideas, sets, lighting, and those fabrics. For the longest time, I couldn’t even begin to explain it. It’s simply what I know. 

And then, the lovely Hannah Rose introduced me to this brilliant quote that made it all make sense…

Evening dress stiffened with horsehair and tulle, 1960

Evening dress in Indian sari fabric, 1963

I relish the opportunity to learn about the art of couture by visiting ateliers and designer studios. When I travel, such visits are always high on my list of priorities. Yet, there’s nothing like indulging my love of couture in my own city. On a cold winter afternoon, the gentleman and I ducked into the Aronson Gallery at Parsons to see Sophie Gimbel Fashioning American Couture. Having the quiet, sun lit gallery all do ourselves was the perfect way to spend a snowy afternoon.

"Harlequinade" velvet/satin dress with net overlays, 1963

Sophie Gimbel’s voice was integral in establishing a distinct fashion identity in the US. During the 1950s and 1960s American department stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue would send their buyers to Paris to have choice styles produced in the US. It always gets me to find a licensed couture copy of an Elsa Schiaparelli or Dior piece for resale. As the head custom designer at Saks' Salon Moderne, Gimbel did away with the established precedent of purchasing exclusive rights to the best couture designs from the Paris collections. At a time when Christian Dior’s New Look dominated American fashion, Sophie Gimbel wasn’t afraid to forge a new identity. This meant designing four hundred unique American styles for Salon Moderne each year. 

Embroidered evening dress with lace scoop neckline, 1957

Mid-century couture, with its shapes, refined elegance, and sculptural volumes is in the midst of a resurgence. Yet it always amazes me that Gimbel’s name, has largely been left out of the narrative. I have a soft spot for female designers (Madame Grès comes to mind) whose legacies have largely lived on in obscurity. A tightly edited exhibition celebrating the many couture construction techniques and methods that Gimbel invented was a fitting homage. 

The use of the finest textiles from India and Italy, soft tailoring, subtle embellishment and meticulous precision left me (for one afternoon at the very least) in heaven. For the simple fact that, for me, a well-constructed and aesthetically beautiful garment starts from the inside. 

* The first image is a personal scan from the exhibition guide. All other images are courtesy of the Aronson Gallery at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center. 

Fashion, A-Z Part 2

Martin Margiela, sleeveless jacket, beige linen, spring 1997, France, museum purchase. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT. The sculptural jacket is firmly constructed to resemble a couture dress form.

Over the Fourth of July holiday, I finally had the chance to see Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of The Museum at FIT Part Two. It felt quite decadent to leave my office in the middle of the day and head over to 27^th Street. In my mind an afternoon at a beloved museum is a small luxury. The Museum at FIT is one of the city’s great gems- a highly specialized fashion museum committed to advancing knowledge of fashion. 

The Museum at FIT collects, exhibits, conserves, interprets and documents fashion. Since 1975, the museum has been producing award-winning exhibitions. Isabel Toledo: Fashion From the Inside Out and Madame Grès Sphinx of Fashion are two of the museum’s exhibits that have lingered in my mind- both feature innovative designers who leave me in awe.  

Charles James, Tree dress, pink silk taffeta, pink and lavender netting, 1955, USA, gift of Robert Wells In Memory of Lisa Kirk. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT. The Tree dress exemplifies James' mastery of construction. James made fewer than 1,000 dresses during his career-the Museum at FIT has 40 of his dresses in the permanent collection and is the largest collector of his work.

 

I know I’ve said it before, but hands down the best way to learn about quality is to closely analyze construction. The opportunity to get so close to couture garments, that have been taken apart and reconstructed is what made last year’s Daphne Guinness exhibit so special. There’s something very intimate about the museum. The guards put you at ease when the alarms are accidentally set off and encourage you to take a closer look. 

The permanent collection contains more than 50,000 garments and 30,000 textiles and Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection. Curated by Jennifer Farley and Colleen Hill under the watchful eye of Director and Chief Curator Valerie Steele, the exhibition breaks from the museum’s conventional chronological organization. Instead, the curators opted to organize this exhibition alphabetically- beginning with Adrian, Balmain, Comme des Garcons and continuing through the alphabet.

Madeleine Vionnet, dress, black silk taffeta, 1936, France, gift of Carole K. Newman. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT. Madeleine Vionnet and Madame Grès dresses still look so modern.

I love that this is not an exhibit of greatest or best designers, but a look at the breadth of the museum’s holdings from the 20^th and 21^st centuries. I enjoyed the diversity displayed in Part One and Part Two doesn’t disappoint…

There’s a Christian Dior Trapeze Dress by Yves Saint Laurent from spring 1958 that speaks to the curators’ desires to draw connections between original house designers and their successors. Martin Margiela’s brilliant construction is displayed along with Ferragamo’s penchant for experimenting with unusual materials- raffia, cellophane, and cork.  A dress by Jean Patou left me wondering if it might be time for a retrospective. 

Alexander McQueen, dress, digital printed silk chiffon, spring 2010, England, museum purchase. Photograph ©The Museum at FIT. Computer generated prints, saturated colors and that signature couture cut.

Careful consideration was placed on selecting pieces that are representative of each designer. The exhibit features 60 items and the tight editing that I’ve come to expect from the Museum at FIT. If you are in New York, I highly recommend stopping in to see this. 

The Museum at FIT 

Seventh Avenue at 27^th Street 

Swept Me Off My Feet

The perfectionist in me feels the pain of the photographers at the shows who scream at everyone to get their chic feet out the frame. It makes for messy pictures indeed.

"Nobody really knows anymore, especially in the U.S., what couture is. They'll say, 'This couture dress by Ralph Lauren,' and I'm like, 'No. NO.' " Valerie Steele 

My sentiments exactly. Valerie Steele (in the same vain as Sally Singer) always offers intellectual and well-written thoughts on fashion. Both ladies truly elevate fashion beyond the frivolous; and culturally contextualize it. 

I've spent the past week immersing myself in all things Couture and Haute Joaillerie for a couple of projects. In my mind, the internal construction (I can never get enough of examining construction) and production processes are what makes  couture relevant. Many of my favorite designers draw a very fine line between well-made ready-to-wear and haute couture. 

Take Azzedine Alaïa, who designs incredible couture-like garments, but refuses to distinguish between couture and ready-to-wear. The techniques Alaïa uses are similar to couture, however he is not officially a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. "The fabric he uses is woven by machine in Italy and sent to India to be embroidered or covered with sequins or tiny beads. Then it's returned to Paris where it is cut, shaped and finished like cloth." * It all amounts to clothing that leaves me breathless. 

Giambattista Valli's second couture show left me breathless. For years, I've looked at the draping, construction, fabrics, and technical precision of Valli's ready-to-wear and thought that he should be showing couture. From his ready-to-wear, you could see that this is a designer who reveres the seamstresses, feather workers, pattern cutters, dye workers and artisans who pour their passion and creativity into their art. In an industry and world where people are consumed by voyeurism and self destruction, it's great to see someone excel. 

Admittedly, this collection falls within my comfort zone. Evenings in New York provide plenty of opportunities to wear gorgeous coats, cocktail and evening dresses. There's a simplicity to the silhouettes  that my love of classicism responds to. This collection is about juxtapositions. The traditional couture technique vs. contemporary clothing. Simplicity vs. whimsical colors and prints. A rarefied art vs. the wearable. This collection is dream worthy and sometimes we all need to dream. 

*Suzy Menkes

Credit- Style.com

Ethereal

Via Style.com

Via Style.com

Via Style.com

I’m not in the habit of posting runway images, but the Elie Saab Fall 2011 couture collection is simply divine.  It’s sure to be a source of inspiration for the upcoming Fall benefit season. Unlike Spring benefits; Fall benefits call for long gowns that command the red carpet. In a word this collection is ETHEREAL. Couture is a dying art, but these gowns are light, airy and modern. At the heart of this collection is the universal truth that sometimes a girl just wants to look pretty.

Each dress manages to be seductive without revealing too much. These dresses strike the perfect balance. They skim the body, but they don’t cling. What’s shown is just as important as what’s left to the imagination. I adore a designer who thinks about evening outside of the predictable strapless silhouette. There’s something refreshing about stepping out in something unexpected. Perhaps it’s a sign of true confidence.

Now we only have to wait for the Fall benefits to commence.

* You can view the complete collection HERE.