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Cape
Jeanne Lanvin, born 1867 - died 1946 - Enlarge image
Cape
- Place of origin:
Paris, France (made)
- Date:
1935 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Jeanne Lanvin, born 1867 - died 1946 (designer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Silk velvet, chiffon, lined with satin
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs I. L. Martin
- Museum number:
T.340A-1965
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This evening cape designed by Jeanne Lanvin (1864–1946) is a good example of her consummate knowledge of fabrics and characteristic love of textures. During the 1930s, fashion designers created boleros and short capes to emphasise the length and fluid shapes of evening gowns.
The waist-length evening cape is made of purple silk velvet ruched to achieve the effect of Astrakhan fur. It has a wide rounded square falling collar fastening at the neck with a silvered button. The ruching, moulded on chiffon, is vertical over the shoulder, and horizontal on the collar and on the rest of the garment. It is lined with satin matching the dress.
This cape shows a very avant-garde design for the period. Its architectural shape, the exaggerated off-the-neck collar and the use of huge buttons herald, almost 20 years before its time, a style developed by Balenciaga in the mid-1950s.
