Pease note, this display is at Manchester Art Gallery
The Gallery of Costume houses a remarkable collection of designer dresses and suits commissioned by the Colour, Design and Style Centre of the Cotton Board, a Manchester-based organisation aiming to promote the use of cotton in fashion and to expand the export trade. The Centre concentrated on exhibitions, shows and commissions to promote cotton in fashion. The surviving outfits were all designed for the catwalk, and were created by the leading London and Paris couturiers of the 1950s. They exemplify the best of cut and silhouette for high-end fashion.In Lancashire, raw cotton was imported mainly from the southern states of the USA and was woven and printed in huge quantities. By the 1950s, it was viewed pre-eminently as a fabric for summer dresses or children’s wear, or else for underwear or workwear. The fashion industry did not look to cotton usually for stylish evening or cocktail outfits, which were invariably made of silk, or for tailoring, which was usually in wool. The Cotton Board deliberately challenged these established views by commissioning ball gowns, cocktail dresses and tailored suits, all in a striking range of different cottons. The effect of this publicity is unclear; what is evident is the demonstration of the immense versatility of cotton in all its myriad of finishes. The Gallery has about 60 outfits donated by the Cotton Board, nearly all from the 1950s. British designers Hardy Amies, Michael Sherard, Digby Morton, John Cavanagh and Victor Stiebel created dresses alongside some of the great Parisian couturiers: Jean Patou, Jean Desses, Jacques Griffe, Pierre Balmain and Pierre Cardin.This display at Manchester Art Gallery contains a representative group of 20 of the outfits from the collection along with contemporary fashion release photographs and film from a 1950s catwalk show.
Images
Jacques Griffe, Jean Desses, Patou, Pierre BalmainAll Paris couture, commissioned by the Cotton Board in Manchester in 1956-7.Photographer David Olins
Selection of further exhibitions in: United kingdom
Cotton CoutureManchester Art Gallery Main address:
Manchester Art GalleryWells Fargo CenterMosley StreetM2 3JLManchester, United kingdomManchester Art GalleryWells Fargo CenterMosley StreetM2 3JLManchester, United kingdomThursday 19 June 2014 -
Sunday 14 June 2015
Manchester Art Gallery
FREE
Pease note, this display is at Manchester Art Gallery
The Gallery of Costume houses a remarkable collection of designer dresses and suits commissioned by the Colour, Design and Style Centre of the Cotton Board, a Manchester-based organisation aiming to promote the use of cotton in fashion and to expand the export trade. The Centre concentrated on exhibitions, shows and commissions to promote cotton in fashion. The surviving outfits were all designed for the catwalk, and were created by the leading London and Paris couturiers of the 1950s. They exemplify the best of cut and silhouette for high-end fashion.In Lancashire, raw cotton was imported mainly from the southern states of the USA and was woven and printed in huge quantities. By the 1950s, it was viewed pre-eminently as a fabric for summer dresses or children’s wear, or else for underwear or workwear. The fashion industry did not look to cotton usually for stylish evening or cocktail outfits, which were invariably made of silk, or for tailoring, which was usually in wool. The Cotton Board deliberately challenged these established views by commissioning ball gowns, cocktail dresses and tailored suits, all in a striking range of different cottons. The effect of this publicity is unclear; what is evident is the demonstration of the immense versatility of cotton in all its myriad of finishes. The Gallery has about 60 outfits donated by the Cotton Board, nearly all from the 1950s. British designers Hardy Amies, Michael Sherard, Digby Morton, John Cavanagh and Victor Stiebel created dresses alongside some of the great Parisian couturiers: Jean Patou, Jean Desses, Jacques Griffe, Pierre Balmain and Pierre Cardin.This display at Manchester Art Gallery contains a representative group of 20 of the outfits from the collection along with contemporary fashion release photographs and film from a 1950s catwalk show.
Images
Jacques Griffe, Jean Desses, Patou, Pierre BalmainAll Paris couture, commissioned by the Cotton Board in Manchester in 1956-7.Photographer David Olins Book tickets
TheArtKey.com is a product of ArtKey Media Inc., a Swiss media company. Its mission is to offer individuals and companies creating or offering visual art (such as artists, art galleries, art academies, auction houses, art fairs, etc.) and art interested people (such as art lovers, art collectors, etc.) a global platform to promote and find art.
Our team has all core competences necessary to accomplish this mission: Artists, art connoisseurs, IT specialists, editors and entrepreneurs.
