Object: Evening dress
Designer:
Yohji Yamamoto
(born 1943)
Retailer:
Barneys
(American, founded 1923)
Date: Spring 1998
Medium: Black polyester and opalescent sequins
Country: Japan
Credit Line: Gift of Barneys, New York
Object number: 99.100.2
DescriptionLong sleeveless evening dress in draped and twisted black sheer polyester, with leaf of round opalescent pailettes at left shoulder; asymmetrical and deconstructed
Label Text:Yamamoto is known for his use of black; to be sure, his initial work focused on a black-on-black aesthetic. His palette, though, has evolved over the years to incluce other bold colors, such as red and white. Black's symbolic associations include authority, power, and, specifically in fashion, sophistication and chic. Yamamoto's choice of black in this case acknowledges the garment's primary function - that of commanding eveningwear. Surprising, though, is his use of a decorative "leaf" of iridescnet paillettes, which evoke the preciousness of opals. With the capability of emitting brilliant flashes of multicolored light, both opals and Yamamoto's paillettes serve to excite the designer's understated glamour.
Exhibitions:
- Reinvention and Restlessness: Fashion in the Nineties
- Glamour: Fashion, Film, Fantasy
- Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT (Part Two)