Dress

Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)

ca. 1974 · silk · Costume Institute

Several Mme Grès gowns from the mid-1960s are among the earliest couture examples to survive a flood in Mrs. Kempner's storage area. While her Mme Grès pleated dresses are well-established classics, Mrs. Kempner also collected subtler manifestations of the designer's conceptual dressmaking. A burgundy and red-orange silk crepe is constructed of two panels of fabric, pieced and seamed vertically into a toga-like gown. The gown represents the designer's interest, which began in the late 1930s, in North African costume traditions and the minimally shaped pattern piece.

Artist

Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)

Date

ca. 1974

Medium

silk

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Thomas L. Kempner, 2006