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Evening dress

Design House Gianni Versace Italian
Designer Gianni Versace Italian
spring/summer 1996
Not on view
Gianni Versace's love of classical themes is evident in the Medusa-head logo that established his atelier's identity. The Versace goddess is worldly, without the idealized aura of the Hellenic arcadia. Her confidence is almost brazen, and her taste for spectacular effects is uninhibited. In Versace's imagination, classical dress was an opportunity for body-revealing drape and incandescent effects. This gown's silver satin sheathes the torso, then opens up to fanning pleats at the skirt. Arcing inserts of silver gauze, with iridescent paillettes and crystal beads densely embroidered at their crest, waft over the wearer's legs in a wavelike undulation, opening the gown and exposing the body beneath. In repose, the satin pleats endow the wearer with a columnar dignity, but in motion, the disclosure of the body and the liquid drift of the sheer fabric suggest Venus emerging from the sea.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Evening dress
  • Design House: Gianni Versace (Italian, founded 1978)
  • Designer: Gianni Versace (Italian, 1946–1997)
  • Date: spring/summer 1996
  • Culture: Italian
  • Medium: silk, synthetic fiber
  • Credit Line: Gift of Donatella Versace, 1999
  • Object Number: 1999.328.4
  • Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

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