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Rare Schiaparelli Black Quilted Faille Evening Cape, 1951

About the Item

Rare Schiaparelli Haute Couture Mandarin Black Quilted Faille Cape, 1951 Amazingly chic and modern quilted silk faille Haute Couture cape by Elsa Schiaparelli from the 1950's. Molded and lacquered resin flower seed buttons by Jean Clement line the front as well as pair of tiny slit pockets. In the period Schaparelli was as famous for her modernist treatments of black as she was for her frivolities. Evening capes and coverups were used in a myriad of ways in her collections of the 1930's thru the 1950's, many times in softer, more fluid versions. This sculptural cape was no doubt paired with a a slim fitting seath dress underneath. A very striking and powerful proportion. This extraordinary example is cut to force the wearer into a controlled Mandarin stance as only your hands (gloved in the period) would be revealed through the slits. Very typical of the sobre chic styles chosen by the Duchess of Windsor ,but, with an overscaled proportion which she would have shied away from. This evening cape parallel the dramatic toreador inspired capes of Balenciaga.The capes shoulder yoke is doubled ,but, not quilted and forms a very clean visual line. The weight of the quilted silk and added godets helps to anchor the shape and proportion of the cape which is simultaeneously oversized yet proportionate. As the wearer moves the weight gently shifts and creates the subtle movement needed to break the stiffness. A very ingenius and effective technical solution developed to create this chic imprint. Schiaparelli was an artist interested in creating forms, proportions and shapes with fabrics and materials hence unused in the realm of the Haute Couture and fashion. Her circle of important artist friends collaborated with and influenced her in one of the most important and creative periods of fashion in the 20th Century...the period just prior to WWII. Schiaparelli's influence on the generation of designers who followed her including Givenchy, Balenciaga, Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent was enormous and irrefutable. Today designers such as Galliano, Gaultier, Castelbajac, and Moschino represent her admirers. She set a new "standard", much like her rival,Coco Chanel for modern dressing which younger couturiers of the period appropriated. Her innovative cuts, dramatic color sense and design bravado influence and inspire legions of designers to this day. This cape is photographed in L'officiel 1951, issue 347/348 ,page 109 and is shown with a slim black seath dress. SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY.
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