Essay by Nancy Cantwell
Photography by Nancy Baron

As one navigates the the show, organized by the thematic sections Timeline, Textile, Tailoring and Trim there is a palpable sense of drama fueled by the socio-polical narrative of a European society being transformed by wars, revolution, industrialization and the emergence of a burgeoning middle class. For two centuries, from the Age of Enlightenment to the onset of World War I, we can track the shift in taste from aristocratic court-inspired opulence to a fashion that reflected style possibilities more closely aligned with the expanded trade routes, manufacturing processes and technological advances of the day. Research scholar Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell affirms in her catalog essay, “Indeed, the more we delve into the history of fashion in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the more familiar it looks. This period witnessed the birth of the fashion industry as we know it today—that is, seasonal, international and corporate.”

There is a tangible seduction about the collection and a strong operatic quality of intrigue and beguilement as one traverses through the years engaging with these extraordinary sewn artworks. Designed by renowned opera stage designers Pier Luigi Pizzi and Massimo Pizzi Gasparon, each dress, suit, cap and vest seems to not only to manifest its own place in history, but also bears evidence to individual character, principle players on history’s stage. John Galliano, head designer for Christian Dior, is no stranger to dramatic affect in his designs nor his personage. LACMA had definitely chosen the right man to preview the collection and write the Preface to the remarkable catalog, designed by Pentagram’s Abbott Miller, that accompanies the show. Gallinano’s pick to illustrate the concept of how a piece of clothing can transform character is the Revolutionary Vest, French 1789-94. Made of linen canvas with silk needle point, this precursor to the protest tee, is rife with revolutionary symbolism. “You can spend hours studying this vest. It gives many clues about the turbulent time, weaving style with politics, rebellion, and the ‘tricolore’. Here fashion speaks its owners mind through intricate needlework and beauty rather than through the violence of the day.” The embroidered caterpillar collar represents how the aristocracy once dressed “en chenille” or casual in appearance by day, and then morph into the showy butterfly by night. Again as Galliano aptly points out, “The vest is both a political and a fashion statement that captures the mood at the beginning of a new era. It also shows how style reacted, like a fickle mirror, and instantly rejected the gaudy finery so beloved before.”

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Both men and women are given equal opportunity to shine in the details of the embroidery, the exactitude of the tailoring, the exoticism of the fabrics and the inventiveness of the reshaped silhouette. The embellishment of the body begins early and these two boy’s frocks are striking examples of both the growing global trade economies and the technological advances of times. The two following descriptions are extracts from the catalog.

Left: This English boy’s frock is made of soft, lightweight cashmere twill woven in Kashmir. Prior to being cut and sewn, professional Indian embroiderers utilizing silk embroidery thread, probably imported from China, embellished the fabric with traditional stylized floral motifs that featured curved tips (buta) often seen on Kashmir shawls.

Right: The boy’s frock incorporates a white-work technique, broderie anglaise, in which small eyelets are outlined with sturdy embroidery stitches and cut out of the ground fabric. Although the result resembled lace, it could withstand frequent washing and was therefore practical for children’s clothing. Technically very simple, this imitation lace was lower in cost that real lace, and it became increasingly available as the nineteenth century progressed. Ironically, this “democratic” decoration owed its affordability to the meager wages given to the female and child laborers who often produced it.

please click to enlarge for garment details

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If ever there was a dress that Violetta Valery, the famed and fated courtesan of La Traviata, would favor it is this moiré finished silk gown. The temptation of this sensuous material alone would keep Verdi’s heroine of ill repute ripe with clientele. The Japanese inspired butterfly-and-flower motif was produced using a mechanical process of roller-printing warps (shadow printing) meant to simulate the chiné à la branche, whose characteristic hazy, impressionist patterns might give our Lady of the Camellias the aura of walking on water.

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The allure of Fashioning Fashion is far reaching from the lavish court gowns, adorned with silk passementerie, to men’s silk cut and voided velvet suits, laden with embroidery. Casting an eye back from the 21st century where clothing has been stripped of most extravagant ornament in favor of more serviceable purposes, it is hard to imagine the kind of functionality all the finery afforded and what real freedoms were accorded in wearing so much, but being given the opportunity to explore these sensibilities in close proximity and collected under one roof is the real luxury of modern times.

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Photography © Nancy Baron

]]> http://www.timesquotidian.com/2011/01/04/a-considerable-collection/feed/ 1 http://www.timesquotidian.com/2010/07/10/summer-cover/ http://www.timesquotidian.com/2010/07/10/summer-cover/#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:01:38 +0000 Nancy Cantwell http://www.timesquotidian.com/?p=9655 Menswear Spring / Summer 2011
By Nancy Cantwell

I have to say that I had a much harder time than I expected trying to narrow the field for Menswear Spring 2011, but my first impulse is to run with what really works. This is how I would have sent David de Rothchild packing for his latest eco-crusade expedition aboard Plaskti, in search of Eastern Garbage Patch, an island of trash twice the size of Texas located in the Pacific Ocean. From creative director Alessandro Sartori of Z Zenga, the fashion forward branch of the 100 year Ermenegildo Zegna family empire, this ultra light, multo functional outwear is just the thing for our fearless adventure ecologist. I think Mr. de Rothchild would also feel comfortable wearing material produced by a company such as Zenga, whose commitment to social responsibility can be explored here at Oasi Zenga Project. You can follow David de Rothchild’s voyage at adventureecology.com

Outerwear seems to be favored over the traditional jacket for most shows. Trenches are everywhere, but let’s start at Lavin where Alber Elbaz, along with Lucas Ossendrijver, cooked up some amazing classics. The twist of turning a bomber jacket into a duster is absolute genius. Hooded or not, in suede or something more practical, these coats are an essential piece for spring. While more popular figures of fantasy use their coattails to traverse the realms of the undead, again my mind lights on the nautical, seeing Melville’s Ahab as the character of choice to wear the all noir enselmble on the left. I can imagine him updated, replete with whale bone jewelry, austere and fierce as he skippers the Pequod onward in his monomaniacal search for the “thick-lipped Leviathan” that was the elusive Moby Dick.

Rick Owens men look like they are survivors of some teutonic Wagnerian theme park ride. The short sleeves work particularly well with the long under tee…but, as always, Owens has just killer boots— industrial strength, half dock loader, half God stompers.

Keeping with the full length profile, but striking a far more relaxed pose are hybrid coat/robes at Dior Homme. House designer Kris Van Assche serves up one the finest white trenches of the season. He then moves on to more esoteric shapes. I do like the way the middle coat morphs from lapel jacket tailoring on one side into fabulous Morrocan robe on the other. And I have clear vision of a most refined Japanese gentleman on a hot summer evening, sleeveless, seated on tatami, practicing his kanji calligraphy.

For color this year you just had to go for the cacophony of brights by Raf Simons for Jill Sander. The show’s evening setting at the spectacular gardens of Renaissance-era Tuscan Villa Gamberaia provided the perfect backdrop for these rare birds to take flight. And in contrast to previously discussed silhouettes these slim honed trousers and suits are incisive and exciting.

And finally John Galliano’s men are part Buster Keaton, part Harold Lloyd, but all Proust. The look is light and ready for action whether it be a summer picnic, boat ride or generally just hanging off a clock. These are the finest of duds, most beautifully collared, tied and cuffed, complete in concept like no other than Galliano can do.