Pleated Silk Dress

In 2005, Austrian designer Helmut Lang resigned as creative director of his namesake label to focus on his new career as a fine artist. A few years later, he donated a large volume of his fashion archive to museums worldwide. MoMu was very pleased to welcome this enigmatic evening dress. The intricate silk pleating, reminiscent of Ancient Greek statues, echoes the work of French couturiers such as Madeleine Vionnet and Madame Grès. Rippling over the wearer’s body, the cascading silk pleating resembles the smoothness of marble. The lightness of the silken waves is on both sides confronted with peplum fringes of coarse horsehair. Where in the 19th century horsehair was used to create volume in a woman’s underskirt, Lang similarly used it to create volume. However, instead of tucking it away as an underskirt, he turned it into a decorative feature.