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Variable Sheets/Optical Shift

Dress
1965 (made)
Artist/Maker
Willats, Stephen (designer)
Place of origin
Great Britain (made)

Dress with zipped panels of plastic (PVC). Geometric decoration, the dress is a shift shape, and the bodice is made of black PVC. The skirt section is made of large brightly-coloured square panels of PVC joined together with zips.

Object details

Categories
Womenswear
Fashion
Plastic
Object type
Dress
TitleVariable Sheets/Optical Shift (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Plastic (PVC) and metal zips
Polyvinyl Chloride
Metal
Brief description
Dress with zipped panels of plastic 'Variable Sheets/Optical Shift', designed by Stephen Willats, Great Britain, 1965
Physical description
Dress with zipped panels of plastic (PVC). Geometric decoration, the dress is a shift shape, and the bodice is made of black PVC. The skirt section is made of large brightly-coloured square panels of PVC joined together with zips.
Dimensions
  • Length: 81.5cm
  • Width: 50cm
Gallery label
DRESS: VARIABLE SHEETS
Designed and made by Stephen Wilatts (British, born 1943), London, Great Britain, 1965
Plastic with metal zips
T.19-1991
This dress was one of a series of designs for furniture and dress that Stephen Willats made to express the concept of self-organisation. The zipped blocks can be assembled in a variety of ways. Stephen Wilatts used PVC because he felt it embodied the optimistic and futuristic spirit of the 1960s. The dress was made to be worn with a plastic helmet and was conceived as a work of art not for ordinary wear.
Credit line
Purchase.
Object history
Purchased. Registered File number 1990/2350.
Bibliographic reference
Baker, Malcolm, and Brenda Richardson (eds.), A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: V&A Publications, 1999.
Collection
Textiles and Fashion Collection
Accession number
T.19-1991

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Record createdNovember 7, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O85283/variable-sheetsoptical-shift-dress-willats-stephen/
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