Madame Grès - Sculptural Fashion

The MoMu or Fashion museum in Antwerp has just opened MADAME GRÈS: Sculptural Fashion, an overview of the work of the Parisian couturier, Madame Grès (1903– 1993).  This is the same retrospective of Madame Grès from Galliera, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, which was presented in 2011 at the Musée Bourdelle in Paris.

Madame Grès felt herself as much a sculptor as a fashion designer and she draped or pleated the fabric directly onto the model, without artificial devices and mostly without using scissors and needles. As such she was really a pioneer of seamless garments.

Her favorite fabric was silk jersey, and a single dress could take from 13 to 21 meters. Ignoring trends during her long career, she created classical, timeless looks. "Once one has found something of a personal and unique character, its execution must be exploited and pursued without stopping," she once remarked.

She introduced the idea of cutouts, creating little windows in her gowns which revealed the back or shoulder.

While she is better known for her Hellenistic draped evening dresses, she also created minimalist daytime garments and stylish beachwear, always in her own specific style: sober and sculptural.

This exhibition will be on until Feb 2013