Coat

Cristobal Balenciaga|House of Balenciaga

ca. 1965 · wool · Costume Institute

Since the 1970s both the producers and consumers of fur fashions have come under criticism by animal-welfare organizations. Several designers have responded to this antifur initiative by promoting fake fur as an ethical alternative to real fur. In the 1960s Cristobal Balenciaga, driven less by ethics than by aesthetics, experimented with textiles and techniques that imitated the look and feel of fur. In this coat he employed Papacha, a mohair developed by Lida and Zika Ascher in 1965 that is knotted by hand to give the impression of tufts of fur.

Artist

Cristobal Balenciaga|House of Balenciaga

Date

ca. 1965

Medium

wool

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Countess Edward Bismarck, 1981