A love letter to the little black dress
IT is the go-to garment for many a Christmas party – and an iconic outfit that Audrey Hepburn made her own in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Now the ‘little black dress’ is to be celebrated in an exhibition that traces how it became the ultimate in chic. Opening at the National Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh, next summer, it will include designs by Chanel, Christian Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Visitors will see how a simple, short black dress first designed by Coco Chanel in 1926 swept the fashion world and how technology is allowing designers to upgrade it for its next century.
A total of 60 striking designs drawn from the National Museums Scotland (NMS) collection, international fashion houses and private lenders will go on display from June 26 to October 25.
Little Black Dress will examine the history of the garment in high fashion – and consider the role it has played in society.
Vintage pieces by Chanel and Prada will be shown alongside recent work by contemporary designers such as
Christopher Kane and Gareth Pugh, the English designer known for his work with Lady Gaga.
A Dior dress worn by Wallis Simpson will be featured alongside frocks worn by Princess Margaret, Vivien Leigh and Joanna Lumley.
Georgina Ripley, senior curator of modern and contemporary fashion and textiles at NMS said: ‘Few garments are as iconic as the little black dress, which has often been held up by the fashion industry as the one piece every woman should have.
‘This exhibition will explore its enduring success and ask why, in the fickle and fast-paced fashion world, the little black dress has achieved that rare status of being truly above the fray.’