Evening Dress thumbnail 1
Evening Dress thumbnail 2
Not on display

Evening Dress

1988 (made)
Artist/Maker
Moschino (designed for)
Moschino, Franco (designer)
Place of origin
Milan (made)

This evening dress was designed by Moschino in 1988. It is constructed of a black petticoat bodice and 20 bras to form a bell-shaped skirt. It is reminiscent of work by designers Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gaultier, both of whom audaciously employed brassieres and corsets as outerwear.

Object details

Categories
Fashion
Womenswear
Evening Wear
Object type
Evening dress
Materials and techniques
Machine-sewn cotton and polyester
Cotton (Textile)
Polyester (Textile)
Machine Sewing
Brief description
Evening dress made of a cotton and polyester petticoat top and twenty bras, designed by Franco Moschino, Milan, 1988
Physical description
Evening dress of machine-sewn cotton and polyester and constructed of a black petticoat top and twenty black bras to form the skirt.
Dimensions
  • Width: 50cm (Note: Maximum Width on Stockman)
  • Depth: 40cm (Note: Maximum Width on Stockman)
  • Height: 1650cm (Note: Maximum Width on Stockman)
UK size 12.
Gallery label
(1990)
BLACK BRA DRESS
Designed by Franco Moschino (Italian)
Viscose and lycra
1989

Franco Moschino is called the "ragazzaccio" or wild boy of fashion. In the serious world of Milanese fashion Moschino breaks all the rules and makes fun of fashion.
Making clothes that invite controversy, Moschino creates parodies of fashion victims. He likes to experiment with clothes in a playful way, mixing up and twisting classic styles from the past and transplanting them into the present day in an ironic and funny way. Moschino proclaims that: "The people who buy my clothes want mad, incredible, funny, frivolous things... they buy a magic dose of personality with the clothes... they don't feel silly wearing cutlery on their dress or 120 teddybears as a fur collar."

The Black Bra Dress from Moschino's 1989 collection, shown in the exhibition Fashion and Surrealism at the V&A in 1989, is typical of his dream-like sculptural approach to clothes construction. Unexpected and spontaneous, Moschino clothes encourage fashion to laugh at itself.

Given by Franco Moschino
T.243-1989
Credit line
Given by the designer
Object history
Registered File number 1989/972.
Summary
This evening dress was designed by Moschino in 1988. It is constructed of a black petticoat bodice and 20 bras to form a bell-shaped skirt. It is reminiscent of work by designers Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gaultier, both of whom audaciously employed brassieres and corsets as outerwear.
Bibliographic reference
Mendes, Valerie. Black In Fashion. London: V&A Publications, 1999.
Collection
Textiles and Fashion Collection
Accession number
T.243-1989

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Record createdJanuary 13, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72937/evening-dress-moschino-franco/
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