Looks for the dedicated - and very rich - followers of fashion
THE fashion accessory necessary to perfectly complement the prestigious “Dress of the Year” revealed by a Bath museum is ... very deep pockets.
Anyone hoping to recreate these looks as a Christmas gift for their loved ones would need to have a spare £20,000 in their wallet or purse.
Since 1963 the Fashion Museum Bath has selected a ‘Dress of the Year’ and some of the biggest names in fashion such as Karl Lagerfeld, Mary Quant and Tom Ford have previously won.
Initially the prestigious contest focused purely on women’s fashion, but in more recent years menswear has also been acknowledged.
The striking pink Dior suit which won this year’s men’s contest is part of the Paris fashion house’s spring/ summer 2019 collection.
The ensemble would be a bold choice at The Rec in Bath and even some of Bath’s top international players would baulk at the nearly £4,000 estimated cost of the outfit.
The outfit isn’t available to buy yet, but the closest comparable Dior pieces the Chronicle could find were £750 for the trainers, £900 for the bag, £1,500 for the suit jacket and £630 for the trousers.
That however is a relative bargain compared to the winning women’s outfit, which is selected from Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer 2018 collection and would leave precious little change from £16,000 to assemble.
The coat is approximately £14,000, trainers £740, shorts £840 and the blouse £890.
Each year the museum asks a noted fashion expert to select their favourite catwalk look and these outfits were chosen by Alexander Fury, fashion features director of An0ther magazine and men’s fashion critic at the Financial Times.
He said: “The over-arching idea behind these choices is to reflect the influence and importance of history. Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior are both historic houses, 164 and 72 years old respectively, helmed by successors rather than the founders.
“Each of these two examples deals with history in different ways. Vuitton is an update of 18th-century court clothing – incredibly accurate, but made to feel totally modern via juxtaposition, of sports shorts and trainers with a brocaded frock-coat.
“Kim Jones’ look from his debut Dior menswear collection trades not on wider French history, but on Dior’s heritage.”
Named the Tailleur Oblique, the diagonal line is based on Christian Dior’s winter 1950 haute couture collection.
The suit is in pink, a signature Dior colour second only to grey, the pink shade was inspired by the brick of Dior’s childhood home in Granville on the Normandy coast.
“Alongside history, there is an oddly up-to-the-minute element of gender fluidity in these choices. And, interestingly, both looks are worn with trainers. Oddly underrepresented in Bath but at every level the footwear that best represents our time.”
Rosemary Harden, fashion museum curator, said, “We are thrilled with Alexander Fury’s selection of work by Nicolas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton and Kim Jones for Dior as Dress of the Year 2018. A huge thank you to Alexander for putting so much thought into what is a truly inspired selection.”
Councillor Paul Myers, cabinet member for Economic and Community Regeneration at Bath & North East Somerset Council, which runs the Fashion Museum, said: “We are very grateful to Alexander Fury and also to the designers, who have generously donated these two ensembles to the museum.
“They will be displayed as the final items in the A History of Fashion in 100 Objects exhibition, where local residents with a Discovery Card will be able to see them for free.”
The chosen designs have become part of the museum’s world-class collection and have gone on display in its headline exhibition, A History Of Fashion In 100 Objects.
The Dress of the Year Collection was launched in 1963 by Doris Langley Moore, founder of the Fashion Museum.
Each of these deals with history in different ways.