Evening dress

Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)

1967 · silk · Costume Institute

Madame Alix Grès' career spanned five decades and throughout them all she excelled in her ability to manipulate fabric and use its innate characteristics to enhance her designs. Known for her classically inspired, form-fitting gowns, in the mid-1960s Grès began experimenting with geometrically cut pattern pieces to create more free-flowing designs. Using the cylinder and rectangle, Grès creates a columnar gown with dramatic side panels not unlike Balenciaga's sculptural pieces of the time. The slim, sheath-like silhouette captures the sensibility of the period with its clean, modern appearance, while the vivid orange color represents a sense of irreverence that was emblematic of the second half of the 60s.

Artist

Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs)

Date

1967

Medium

silk

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, Jr., 1975