SCULPTING WITH FABRIC
 

Madame Grès has often been called the “great sculptress” of haute couture. Sculptural elements in her work are the results of fabric that was puffed, molded, and shaped in ways that allowed large quantities of it to billow boldly and dramatically around the body. The post-World War II era was the heyday of Grès’s sculpted works. Unlike most other designers of the late forties and early fifties, Grès did not rely upon hidden support structures, such as crinolines, to craft her sculpted designs. Instead, she used paper taffeta or heavy fabrics to shape her cocktail dresses, capes, and coats.

Grès would continue to experiment with three-dimensional forms well into the sixties and seventies. Examples range from a navy blue taffeta gown with enormous, balloon-shaped sleeves to the “Turandot” evening gown. The latter is basic in construction but operatic in manifestation. Using three graduated circles placed atop one another, its tiered, wedding-cake silhouette is anything but saccharin. The folds of inky silk are brilliantly controlled by Grès and impart to the wearer a kind of languid animation akin to that of a robed emperor or pontiff.

Years of controlled refinement shaped the evolution of Grès’s sculpted designs. Created over a period of several decades, they may differ in appearance, but the visual drama of these garments provides us with a link to their exquisite common ancestry.  

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Balloon Sleeve Plush Coat
       
Turandot Dress Coat