"LITTLE BLACK DRESS". Collectif. Editions Skira-Rizzoli Publications, 2012. Imprimé en Italie. in-4, couverture toilée noire sous jaquette photo (état d'usage). 184 pages. Textes en anglais de Gioia Diliberto, Maureen Dowd & Robin Givhan, avant-propos de Paula Wallace, introduction par André Leon Talley, illustré de 105 reproductions photographiques hors-texte, noir & blanc pour la grande majorité par Adam Kuelh. Ouvrage réalisé dans le cadre de l'exposition éponyme au SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah College of Art and Design, du 28 Septembre 2012 au 27 Janvier 2013.

 

"The zenith of elegance in any woman's wardrobe is the little black dress, the power of which suggests dash and refinement. The very term "little black dress" was established in 1926, in an American Vogue illustration of Gabrielle Chanel's first black "Ford." It has since become a metaphor for cosmopolitan glamour; yet it is no longer an invariable of convention and propriety. The little-black-dress club has opened its doors wide, as vast as the endless horizon, to allow for individual choices and interpretation. The inspiration for this exhibition started with a simple black haute couture dress of wool, trimmed in silk, designed by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel Haute Couture in 2006. For nearly four decades, I have observed Mr. Lagerfeld at work fitting his highly acclaimed couture and ready-to-wear collections in the original atelier of Mademoiselle Chanel at 31 rue Cambon in Paris. Lagerfeld's dress was one of the first examples of fine French dressmaking that was donated to the SCAD Museum of Art's emerging collection of costumes, which stems mainly from the closets of many of my most intimate friends, or from Ioans by world-class designers. I have always admired stylishly confident women who dress with great authority. This lifelong love of elegance began with the humble wardrobe of my late grandmother Mrs. Bennie Frances Davis…" André Leon Talley.

 

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