"L'Eléphant Blanc"

Rébè|Yves Saint Laurent|House of Dior

spring/summer 1958 · silk, metallic thread, glass, plastic · Costume Institute

Creating the trapeze silhouette for Dior, Saint Laurent has a rigid understructure veiled under a fly-away cage. A boned corset anchors the dress but allows the delusion of a free swinging cone. Seeking a shape for independence, though still tethered, the "Eléphant Blanc" dress also employs a shimmering embroidery on net that requires a finishing flourish to the thread work on a transparent surface. Thus, in both surface decoration and in structure, Saint Laurent gained the effect of ethereal, bouyant freedom while retaining the structure of the couture. From the earliest works at the house of Dior through the designer's accomplishments in his own house, Saint Laurent has practiced and perfected this modernist wielding of couture construction and proficiency to seem wholly unfettered.

Artist

Rébè|Yves Saint Laurent|House of Dior

Date

spring/summer 1958

Medium

silk, metallic thread, glass, plastic

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1977