If you are a Jeanne Lanvin fan, but you won't be able to visit the current exhibition at Paris' Palais Galliera and happen to be in London, you can still see an original design by Lanvin at the V&A's Fashion Gallery (Room 40). The design in question is a 1936 semi-transparent floor-length silk chiffon evening gown with machine-stitched strips of gilded kid leather.
Donated by Lady Glenconner and matched in the display cabinet with a pair of shoes by Jack Jacobus Ltd (about 1930) worn and given by H.M. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen, the gown features long and voluminous "bishop" sleeves gathered at the wrists and is characterised by elegance and simplicity.
The most notable thing about this design is the fact that the gilt leather strips are stitched at regular intervals in bands down the front to create a perfect vertical pattern.
This precisely appliqued shower of gold elements highlights the elegant column-like flowing style of the garment and is proof of Lanvin's passion for precise geometrical patterns, as highlighted in yesterday's post. The gilt leather strips were also used to reflect the light and served to moderate the design's austerity, creating sparkling and shiny moments.
Maybe this gown was behind the main inspiration for Lanvin's 2011 cut-out wedge pumps with a gold hardware cut-out heel and an architectural silhouette (View this photo), but the most intriguing thing about these historical pieces is not what they inspire in fashion, but how they could be linked to contemporary designs in different fields.
Gold details are indeed employed in architecture as embellishing details: one perfect example of a building covered in golden elements is Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects' Deptford Lounge library and Tidemill Academy (2011) in Lewisham with its surface decorated with horizontal strips of gold.
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