Vionnet at the Fashion Museum
Museums join forces to save inspirational fashion for the
nation
Bath & North East Somerset Council’s
world-renowned Fashion Museum has acquired two outstanding examples
of 1930s haute couture by celebrated Parisian couturier Madeleine
Vionnet.
Bath Fashion Museum was one of three UK
museums who worked together to save a collection of nine evening
dresses by the designer and worn by British socialite Lady
Foley. Because of their high quality and the range of
textiles and techniques used, the dresses were classed as unmatched
by other examples already in the UK and were subject of a recent
Export Licence stop by the Secretary of State.
The two dresses acquired by Bath Fashion
Museum will be on display from December 2009. Fashion
students will also be able to view them as they are being prepared
for exhibition.
Councillor Terry Gazzard, the Council’s
Cabinet Member for Tourism, Leisure & Culture (Conservative,
Abbey) said: “ Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Fashion
Museum is already designated by Government as a regional museum of
international importance and these dresses will take their place in
its collections alongside work by some of the world’s other top
couturiers.”
Three museums with nationally important
collections of fashion – the V&A Museum, the Bowes Museum and
the Fashion Museum in Bath – formed a consortium to raise the funds
to buy the dresses. Supported by the MLA/ V&A Purchase
Grant fund and independent charity, The Art Fund, this is the first
project of its kind to help to keep a collection of Vionnet dresses
in the UK and make them available for public viewing.
The two Vionnet dresses for the Fashion Museum
in Bath were bought for £101,365, of which The MLA/V&A Purchase
Grant Fund gave £50,000 and The Art Fund gave £31,365. The Council,
the West of England Costume Society and many private individuals
and supporters have also donated towards the purchase.
Both dresses are in a fine condition and are
excellent illustrations of the couturier’s design legacy: precise
cut, delicate construction, and exquisite use of a variety of
embroidery and fabric manipulation techniques.
The first dress is a full-length evening gown
of cream silk tulle with a bodice decorated with intricate
smocking. The pattern of the smocking resembles interlocking
hexagons which appear to be made up of simple flower motifs with
six petals. The dress is dated 1934. The second, dated 1938, is of
white cotton organdie and is embroidered in white thread – in what
appears to be a tambour stitch – in large single sprig motifs of
bouquets of flowers and sheaves of wheat.
Stephen Bird, Head of the Council’s Heritage
Services which manages the Fashion Museum, said: “The Fashion
Museum has a discerning policy of collecting fine examples of
quality work, including work by leading couturiers of the last
century. We rely heavily on donations and support in kind from
generous benefactors but, like any quality museum, we also have a
modest acquisitions fund that we use discerningly when we can lever
in match funding and grant aid to acquire an exceptional
piece. This is the first such acquisition for the
Fashion Museum for nine years.”
Janet Davies, Head of the MLA/V&A Purchase
Grant Fund said:
“We were delighted to award our largest grant
this year to the Fashion Museum which provides a perfect context
for these two dresses. The acquisition of the seven dresses
offers a wonderful opportunity for the three museums to work in
partnership.”
Andrew Macdonald, Acting Director of The Art
Fund, said: “These exquisite dresses reveal the astonishing cut and
design of Madeleine Vionnet’s haute couture. Her innovative
construction techniques and skilled manipulation of fabric have
inspired many of today’s leading fashion designers. Sharing
the collection between the three museums is a wonderful way of
allowing more people to see Vionnet’s distinctive style as well as
the sumptuous tastes of Lady Foley and The Art Fund is thrilled to
have helped save them for the nation.”
ENDS