Sotheby’s is partnering with Kerry Taylor Auctions to sell the haute couture collection of Didier Ludot, a well-known vintage fashion retailer in Paris, on July 8. The catalog of 150 garments and accessories reads like the who’s who of Parisian couture over the last century, with each piece collected by Ludot for their beauty and technical skill. In their original condition, many are emblematic of the styles of the couturiers who created them, and are full of history, such as the Chanel “little black dress” with sequins once owned by the French actress Romy Schneider; Mona Bismarck's Balenciaga cape; the Duchess of Windsor's psychedelic ‘60s dress; and several sculptural dresses created for the famed French model Bettina by Azzedine Alaïa.

Amongst some of the highlights of the collection, spanning 1924 to the early 2000s are a "Louveciennes" dress, circa 1957, from Christian Dior’s last collection, a Pierre Balmain black velvet cocktail dress, circa 1953, embroidered by Atelier Lesage with delicate chiffon roses, a buckskin cocktail dress designer by Yves Saint Laurent and embroidered by Maison Lesage with precious stones, circa 1968, that was worn by Marisa Berenson and photographed by Irving Penn for an issue of Vogue magazine, a silk twill dress from the “Circus” collection of Elsa Schiaparelli, circa 1938, a mini-dress in metal and ostrich feathers that Paco Rabanne created for the French singer Dani for her 1970 Alcazar show, a jersey evening dress by Madame Grès, which was reproduced by Fernando Botero in a painting illustrated in Vogue magazine, and a Balanciaga dress that once belonged to Cocteau's muse, Francine Weisweiller, one of the most elegant Parisian women of her time.

As first published in BlouinArtinfo.com