Evening suit

Yves Saint Laurent|Yves Saint Laurent

fall/winter 1978–79 · a) silk, metallic; b) silk, metal, rhinestone, synthetic, plastic · Costume Institute

Although Saint Laurent's modernist impulses suggest a conceptual affinity to traditions established by Jean Patou and Coco Chanel, he has cited as well his admiration for the work of Elsa Schiaparelli, the designer best remembered for her surrealist collaborations with Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dali. With this Schiaparelli-inspired evening suit, Mrs. Kempner selected a piece adorned with its own jewelry-a trompe l'oeil rose blooming at the throat. The extraordinary three-dimensional embroidered flower is from the workshop of Françoise Lesage, whose mother created the original Surrealist embroideries for Schiaparelli in the 1930, demonstrating the ongoing support of tradition by the métiers of haute couture.

Artist

Yves Saint Laurent|Yves Saint Laurent

Date

fall/winter 1978–79

Medium

a) silk, metallic; b) silk, metal, rhinestone, synthetic, plastic

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Thomas L. Kempner, 2006