Evening coat

Jeanne Lanvin|House of Lanvin

spring/summer 1927 · cotton, wool · Costume Institute

From among the many strengths of Jeanne Lanvin, it is her discriminating sensibility for linear decoration that made her one of the most important designers of the 1920s and 1930s. Her starburst and radiant designs were sui generis, though they evoked the Art Deco style. As fashion historian Caroline Rennolds Milbank described her, "She seldom used patterned fabrics, preferring to work with appliqués and embroideries. Beginning in the teens, she experimented with the modern look of machine parallel stitching and, by the thirties, was using lamé and satin worked in parallel stitch and in honeycomb quilting to form shoulder 'wings,' belts, and bibs on otherwise simple columnar evening gowns."

Artist

Jeanne Lanvin|House of Lanvin

Date

spring/summer 1927

Medium

cotton, wool

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Isabel Shults Fund, 1986