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Dress

Design House House of Balenciaga French
Designer Cristobal Balenciaga Spanish
1960–64
Not on view
This chic, blacker than black tunic, with its dramatic cape-like back panel, perfectly articulates Balenciaga's revolutionary modern design principles of the 1960s. The Spanish-born couturier often set himself a special tailor's test: he loved to have the garment stand away from body, thus taking form to and from the body, but seemingly separated from it, like a cantilevered balcony. Balenciaga was considered the supreme architect of twentieth-century fashion, and is remembered primarily for his virtuosity as a tailor and for his use of fabrics with a stiffer or more structured "hand."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Dress
  • Design House: House of Balenciaga (French, founded 1937)
  • Designer: Cristobal Balenciaga (Spanish, Guetaria, San Sebastian 1895–1972 Javea)
  • Date: 1960–64
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: wool, silk
  • Credit Line: Gift of Doris Duke, 1976
  • Object Number: 1976.124.7a–c
  • Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

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