Object: Evening dress
Designer:
Barbara Karinska
(1886 - 1983)
Date: 1941
Medium: Black lace, pink gauze, and pink silk
Country: Russia
Credit Line: Gift of Irene Averbrook Weissman
Object number: 96.117.2
DescriptionAnkle length evening dress in black lace and peach pink gauze; matching peach pink silk bias slip
Label Text:Russian émigré Barbara Karinska was arguably the greatest ballet costumier of the mid-century. She first made her mark collaborating with European artist/designers such as Christian Bérard and Cecil Beaton in the 1930s. At the onset of World War II, she moved to America, where she went on to form a legendary collaboration with fellow émigré, choreographer George Balanchine. Before embarking on a full-time career designing ballet and other dance costumes, she worked briefly as a couturier. Her innovations, such as long tutus made with different colored layers of tulle, may have influenced couturiers such as Charles James.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions:
- Ballerina: Fashion's Modern Muse
- Dance and Fashion