Dress
The Spanish-born French designer Paco Rabanne was a pioneer in his subversion of traditional couture techniques. Rabanne’s innovative design methodology utilized unconventional materials and frequently employed the use of interchangeable components as a general approach to garment construction. This dress from 1969, is composed from a series of black Rhodoid (or cellulose acetate) discs that have been linked together with hundreds of small metal jump rings, a type of hardware that is typically reserved for jewelry. Though the discs have been layered in bands across the breasts and hips in a gesture towards modesty, the abbreviated hemline, and the interstitial glimpses of skin that the garment exposes embody the period tendency to celebrate and display a youthful figure.
Artwork Details
- Title: Dress
- Designer: Paco Rabanne (French, born Spain 1934–2023)
- Date: 1969
- Culture: French
- Medium: plastic (cellulose acetate), metal
- Credit Line: Purchase, Gould Family Foundation Gift, in memory of Jo Copeland, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.558
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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Paco Rabanne
1967
Paco Rabanne
1966
Paco Rabanne
1965
Paco Rabanne
late 1960s
Paco Rabanne
ca. 1967
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