Dress

Designer Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs) French

spring/summer 1974

Not on view

Madame Alix Grès' career spanned five decades and throughout them all she excelled in her ability to manipulate fabric and use its innate characteristics to enhance her designs. She executed flowing body-skimming garments inspired by Greek dress; minimalist, sculptural forms and voluminous, dramatic shapes. This dress not only expresses Grès' minimalist sentiments, it also includes classical quotations. Geometry, seen in the wedge-shaped, form-fitting waistband and the triangular gussets that create angles in the sleeves, give the garment its structure. Cashmere knit lends itself to the soft, classical pleating in the bodice and skirt. The use of asymmetry, a Grès trademark, serves to create visual interest without the use of additional surface decoration.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: Dress
Designer: Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs) (French, Paris 1903–1993 Var region)
Date: spring/summer 1974
Culture: French
Medium: wool, silk
Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr., 1988
Object Number: 2009.300.1050a, b
Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

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By Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Evening dress, Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs) French, silk, French — Evening dress
Designer Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)
1958

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Henri-Joseph Harpignies
1856

Coatdress, André Courrèges French, wool, silk, French — Coatdress
Designer André Courrèges
1965

Necklace, Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs) French, metal, French — Necklace
Designer Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)
Manufacturer Goossens
1969–71

Costume Bell, metal, Possibly French — Costume Bell
Possibly French
19th century

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