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Leonarda

Dress
2012 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

After almost three decades of producing solely ready-to-wear, in 2012 Italian designers Dolce and Gabbana launched their Alta Moda couture line. This hand-painted faille dress is taken from Dolce and Gabbana's first haute couture collection, Taormina, which was photographed in Winchester by British Vogue in July of that same year. Each dress took up to three months to complete, the naturalistic flower paintings being finished before the dresses were made-up.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Leonarda (assigned by artist)
  • Taormina (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Hand-painted silk faille
Brief description
Dress; hand-painted silk faille on a pannier structure, Dolce and Gabbana, 2012
Physical description
Dress on a pannier structure, white faille, hand-painted with sprays of naturalistic flowers. A large central bouquet dominates the front of the skirt, with a smaller bunch at the bust. There are small sprays of flowers on either hip.
Dimensions
  • Bust circumference: 82cm
  • Chest circumference: 71cm
  • Waist circumference: 64cm
  • Length: 113cm (approximately)
Production typeHaute couture
Credit line
Given by Dolce and Gabbana
Object history
Given to the V&A in 2015 by Dolce and Gabbana [RF: 2015/269].
Subject depicted
Summary
After almost three decades of producing solely ready-to-wear, in 2012 Italian designers Dolce and Gabbana launched their Alta Moda couture line. This hand-painted faille dress is taken from Dolce and Gabbana's first haute couture collection, Taormina, which was photographed in Winchester by British Vogue in July of that same year. Each dress took up to three months to complete, the naturalistic flower paintings being finished before the dresses were made-up.
Bibliographic reference
Miller, Lesley Ellis, and Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Claire Allen-Johnstone, eds. Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2021. ISBN 978-0-500-48065-6. This object features in the publication Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021)
Collection
Accession number
T.33-2015

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Record createdApril 16, 2015
Record URL
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