Medium: Brocaded silk bark cloth, jeweled gold braid

Date: 1967

Country: USA

Credit: Gift of Diana Vreeland

Oscar de la Renta drew inspiration from non-western fashions when he created this vibrant, bejeweled caftan worn by Diana Vreeland, then editor in chief of Vogue. Caftans originated in the courtly dress of Islamic cultures. This high-fashion version is emblematic of a trend for the “exotic” that developed in the late 1960s.

Object Number: 79.147.4