Ensemble
British designer John Galliano’s love for classical silhouettes, combining elements of different historical eras, expresses itself in this wool twill dress. It was shown in the fall/winter 1986–87 collection, ‘Forgotten Innocents’, an early Galliano collection inspired by Victorian crime stories.
Viewed from the front, this seems like a typical 1950s- style day dress with an accentuated waist and flared skirt. Seen from the back, however, there is a modified bustle, which gives the dress a nineteenth-century flair and tilts the silhouette asymmetrically to the front. The conflation and accumulation of historical references is typical for Galliano’s signature, which deconstructs linear historical references. His innovation lies in creating a new female silhouette out of the debris of the past.
Viewed from the front, this seems like a typical 1950s- style day dress with an accentuated waist and flared skirt. Seen from the back, however, there is a modified bustle, which gives the dress a nineteenth-century flair and tilts the silhouette asymmetrically to the front. The conflation and accumulation of historical references is typical for Galliano’s signature, which deconstructs linear historical references. His innovation lies in creating a new female silhouette out of the debris of the past.
Artwork Details
- Title: Ensemble
- Design House: John Galliano (founded 1984)
- Designer: John Galliano (British, born Gibraltar, 1960)
- Date: fall/winter 1986–87
- Culture: British
- Medium: wool, silk, metal
- Credit Line: Purchase, Gould Family Foundation Gift, in memory of Jo Copeland, 2014
- Object Number: 2014.504a–c
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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