Variable Sheets/Optical Shift

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

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