Robe de Style

Jeanne Lanvin|House of Lanvin

spring/summer 1924 · silk, metallic thread, glass · Costume Institute

Chinoiserie roundels that intimate the most elaborate past of the Chinese court, alternately resembling embroidered Manchu court badge motifs or the glinting scales of Mongol armor interpreted in Western embroidery, animate a robe de style by Lanvin. Dabbling with the ambience of historicisms, heavy with paillettes and beads, Lanvin also introduces a play with gravity, mingling the apparently heavy and weightless. A folded layer of ivory silk tulle that has been corded with silver metallic thread suggests the rainbow hem of a Manchu robe.

Artist

Jeanne Lanvin|House of Lanvin

Date

spring/summer 1924

Medium

silk, metallic thread, glass

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Albert Spalding, 1962