Evening dress

House of Balmain|Pierre Balmain

fall/winter 1957–58 · silk · Costume Institute

Pierre Balmain, who worked for couturiers Edward Molyneux (1891–1974) and Lucien Lelong (1889–1958) before founding his own couture house in 1945, achieved early success under his own name, which he attributed to his offering a vision of feminine elegance abandoned during the war years. Before pursuing fashion, Balmain had briefly studied architecture, which instilled in him an abiding interest in harmony and balanced proportions. He would continue to speak of the parallels he saw between architecture and fashion, including the central importance in both disciplines of material selection. He believed a successful couturier must understand and exploit the inherent properties of fabrics, whether rigid or supple. As Balmain explained, a couturier “needs both the thick roughness of tweed and the evanescence of gauze or tulle.” Here, that balance is achieved with silk chiffon intricately draped over a firm understructure that defines the body’s contours, but is softened by the ethereal quality of his primary material and its delicate folds.

Artist

House of Balmain|Pierre Balmain

Date

fall/winter 1957–58

Medium

silk

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Purchase, Gould Family Foundation Gift, in memory of Jo Copeland, 2019