Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography, 1911-2011

Woman's Ensemble (Dress and Jacket), 1965-1967, André Courrègesn, Dress: silk tulle with cotton embroidery, silk jersey, and silk jersey with metallic pigment; Jacket: silk jersey with metallic pigment

Transcript
[upbeat 1960s music]
MALE NARRATOR: What did the future look like in the 1960s? For French designer Andrés Courrèges, it looked like this dress––with a short, A-line shape––and a matching bolero jacket.
CLARISSA ESGUERRA: He was considered a space age designer. He was really looking to the future with his collections and his creations.
MALE NARRATOR: After the Soviet Union launched the first human into space in 1961, designers were inspired by the global space race. Here, we can see that reflected in the use of metallic silver, a favorite color of Courrèges. Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles at LACMA, Clarissa Esguerra.
[music ends]
CLARISSA ESGUERRA: One thing that makes this different than a lot of Courrèges pieces is that it has this overlay of a lace decoration in the dress. He was not known for ornamentation. He was mostly known for architectural shapes and clean lines, but if there was an ornament in his clothing, it was typically of a daisy because he was really harnessing the “Youthquake” and daisies were very symbolic of youth culture.
MALE NARRATOR: As a mass of “baby boomers” reached young adulthood, cultural norms were being challenged. Young women rejected the feminine ideals of the 1950s, and were seeking economic, sexual, and social independence. For Courrèges, designing for the future also meant designing for the modern woman who sought clothing that was more freeing.
[upbeat 1960s music]
CLARISSA ESGUERRA: That’s something huge—was the combination of youth, but also the youth not wanting to be bridled by a bra and girdle. And they wanted to move in and with this, her legs could move. Also, you have a little bit of the sexual revolution happening here, too, with such a short skirt. Her arms were covered but her legs were not. When Courrèges came out, that was an iconic moment. It was a huge revelation at the time, that one would look to what was going on in the streets, with kids, basically, and put it on models, and put it on the runway, and then do it in couture. It was incredible.
[music ends]