Dress

Designer Valentino Italian

spring/summer 2003

Not on view

Since garments with patterning or complex ornamentation are less easily combined into new ensembles than those of plain cloth and neutral color, much of Mrs. Kempner's collection is of solid hued fabrics. Her love of high-key effects, however, made for a substantial number of exceptions to this approach. Photographs of her in the 1960s are as likely to show her in a psychedelic print Pucci gown as in a Saint Laurent "smoking." Her love of prints veered toward the unabashedly feminine, as in a chiffon gown by Valentino. The designer has draped a panel-printed fabric into a masterwork of construction. Both the overskirt and long trained underskirt are uncut lengths of border-printed panels. Valentino creates a deceptively supple effect while preserving the aesthetic integrity of his costly materials.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Dress
Design House: Valentino S.p.A. (Italian, founded 1959)
Designer: Valentino (Italian, 1932–2026)
Date: spring/summer 2003
Culture: Italian
Medium: a) silk, metal; b) metallic
Credit Line: Gift of Thomas L. Kempner, 2006
Object Number: 2006.420.94a, b
Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

More Artwork

By Valentino S.p.A.

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Evening dress, Valentino S.p.A. Italian, silk, Italian — Evening dress
Design House Valentino S.p.A.
Designer Valentino
1973

Armor, Steel, copper alloy, textile, leather, Italian — Armor
Italian
ca. 1400–1450 and later

Fancy dress costume, Paul Poiret French, metal, silk, cotton, plastic (cellulose nitrate), French — Fancy dress costume
Designer Paul Poiret
1911

Cocktail dress, Valentino S.p.A. Italian, Silk, beads, rhinestones, metallic, Italian — Cocktail dress
Design House Probably Valentino S.p.A.
Designer Probably Valentino
1959

Composed Armor, Julian Arrechia Spanish, Steel, copper alloy (latten), leather, Italian — Composed Armor
Armorer Left tasset made by Julian Arrechia
Armorer Left pauldron made by Raymond Bartel
ca. 1450–60 and later, restored and composed in the 1920s

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