Dress
Brand
Comme des Garçons
(Japanese, founded 1969)
Designer
Rei Kawakubo
(born 1942)
Spring 2018
Polyester, cotton, and nylon
Gift of Nordstrom
Object number2021.33.5
This dress depicts Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s seventeenth-century painting of the Emperor Rudolf II as Vertumnus, the Roman god of seasons. Arcimboldo was known for his portraits depicting his subjects as a composite of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The painting is viewed as an allegory, symbolizing the emperor as ruler of all things. Designer Rei Kawakubo’s avant-garde silhouette, here flattened and evoking a canvas, adds a sense of grandeur to this-food-meets-fashion artistic display.
DescriptionMulticolor brushed polyester turned up short sleeve floral dress with Giuseppe Arcimboldo anthropomorphic vegetable and collage floral print with polka dot neckline, pannier tulle padded hips; Look 13Collections
Exhibitions