Ensemble

Olivier Theyskens

spring/summer 1998 · (a) cotton, jet, metal; (b) silk, jet, mother-of-pearl; (c) leather, synthetic fiber, metal; (d, e) leather, plastic · Costume Institute

Olivier Theyskens looks at historical objects with childlike wonder, reinterpreting them with a romantic sensibility into today's fashion vernacular. For this early piece, he reused antique jet beads he found at a flea market to create a handmade boned bodice and neck piece with fringes of jet beads. Jet beads were typically used for mourning jewelry and attire in the nineteenth century, and whilst resplendent, they also evoke the melancholy spirit underlying most of Theyskens' creations: "In my work, there is an awareness of beauty, a meeting between strength and fragility, that something is a little broken. I like to show the ambiguities and ambivalences of the emotions, to play that string."

Artist

Olivier Theyskens

Date

spring/summer 1998

Medium

(a) cotton, jet, metal; (b) silk, jet, mother-of-pearl; (c) leather, synthetic fiber, metal; (d, e) leather, plastic

Culture

Belgian

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Purchase, Friends of The Costume Institute Gifts, 2020