Presentworth Clothing

Rei Kawakubo designed this translucent salmon-pink bias-cut satin sleeveless maxi dress evening gown for her brand Comme des Garcons, which debuted on a model at Paris Fall Fashion Week as "Look 12" among the Vogue photo-coverage of her Spring/Summer 2000 collection (see our last photo of the ensemble). The unusual V-neck shape creates a deep central drape in the front of the unlined dress that prevents the synthetic semi-transparent fabric from clinging to the torso. To continue to flatter the curvy shape of the lower body like the bias-cut enables, such as while walking, Kawakubo added an additional piece of fabric with a circling angular seam that rises from the wider hem. With the exception of the brand tag, all others were cut off by the sole owner to eliminate bulk and visibility through the dress. If the buyer would prefer, the fabric can be made shinier and completely smooth with professional pressing. If the buyer would like to create a layered ensemble with this gown as seen on the runway, we have other textural colorful tops to choose from with over-dyed unique appliques from this same Spring/Summer 2000 collection. However, we think our backless-mannequin photos show that this minimal dress...

For his design mentor Rei Kawakubo's Japanese brand Comme des Garcons, Junya Wantanabe made this inimitable semi-transparent white taffeta floaty ruffled-V-neck sleeveless pullover dress with distinct parachute elements, cutwork, and adjustable ruching and draping as "Look 1 and 2" (see photos) for the Parisian fashion show debut of his Spring/Summer 2003 collection. The stunning combination of contrasts range from romantic-to-combat themes, gathered-to-flowing construction, raw-to-finely-finished edges, soft-to-hard materials, and gossamer-to-dense textural fabrics. Secured on the exterior of the dress with bold silver-tone metallic hardware, the parachute-like 100%-cotton grosgrain straps are mostly enclosed within multiple diagonal and vertical ruched channels to enable symmetrical or asymmetrical draping and lengthening of the thin synthetic fabric into multiple swags. Strap ends can freely hang from the functional hardware on the front of the dress and below its sides--as if they could be yanked to release the fabric into a drifty parachute sail. With the potential to be a stunning formal overlay if worn with a minimalist wedding gown or long skirt, the reverse side of the voluminous dress is equally remarkable for its ruffled diamond-shaped cutout at the lower back, where it is intersected by a trio of linked thick straps that are secured to a looped ruched channel. This creates an elongated bustle with a dramatic central 19-inch slit between the two swags that each extend 43 inches below the outer shoulder hem. This premiere-catwalk dress is distinguished from others in Wantanabe's "Parachute Jumper" collection by the complexity of its top. Two ruched straps form an X-shape via silver hardware at the upper back, extending to the front over the shoulders to form an adjustable face-flattering ruched V-neck with silver-hardware-linked narrow straps. The soft folds of the neckline contribute to the raised ruffle collar, as well as flow to the shoulder seams. The hand-cut hem was designed unfinished and meant to fray, although it has not given its minimal wear and very good condition consistent with only age and storage. See our photos of the care/material tags. All tags remain, including from the Italian concept-store 10 Corso Como, where it was purchased in Milan. The "Made in Japan" size is a large-running "S" due to the pullover and adjustable style of the dress, which is equivalent to an Italian-size 44 or U.S.-size 6. Beyond a convertible dress...

Arguable the most significant design in the Stella McCartney Spring/Summer 2003 collection--since our versatile garment debuted in different colors on the runway and was worn by the British designer to take her fashion-show bow--this pink-printed dark-grey silk-blend zip-front bubble-shaped mini dress with white-satin stripes and pink piping was a favorite of the show's Vogue critic and her father Beatles co-founder Paul McCarthy. Vogue wrote: "Her hippest new idea came in the form of puffy satin bombers--she transformed one, a fusion of sport and chinoiserie print, into an off-the-shoulder bubble dress. McCartney is so into the glam-bomber idea, in fact, that she bounded onto the runway wearing a black version herself." The garment's voluminous batwing sleeves and stretch-cotton ribbed neckline and hem, plus custom golden-charm two-way zipper, enable it to have two different necklines and lengths to convert to a shorter puffier bomber jacket. Notably, the versatile piece that is subtly printed with mock-Beatles lyrics seems to have been the first tribute fashion-design that McCartney created to reference her father. Prior, she had credited her stylish mother Linda for instilling her with a love of fashion and inspiration for her initial namesake collections, which followed her first commercial collections with Phoebe Philo for Chloe. For background, when McCartney was a young girl in 1978, the mock-rock band The Rutles parodied a Beatles song, which was recorded by EMI as "Ging, Gang, Goolie". Given its lyrics, the chinoiserie-style dragon motifs were substituted by McCartney with bird skeletons...

For the late British designer's Spring/Summer 1999 fashion show, this Vivienne Westwood runway-look three-piece ensemble of a black corset-sty...

In 1996, Japanese Junya Wantanabe (b.1961) made this sculptural red whorled-rose jacquard padded cocoon coat/evening jacket/cape to convert to an equally unique and versatile asymmet...

As conceptual art while he transitioned to French artisan-house Hermes artistic director in 1998, Belgian Martin Margiela--whose creations today debut in the setting of a contemporar...

British Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022) designed this corset-style hourglass-shaped red velvet evening dress with its outsized double bow and sheer moire faux-underlay while producing her "Dressed To Scale" collection in 1998 with protege Andreas Kronthaler. A design from this collection set a Westwood-clothing auction record at Christie's London when a corseted silk gown fetched over $41,000. This fresh interpretation of the classic Marilyn-Monroe silhouette was dubbed the "MM Corset Dress" for Westwood's semi-couture Gold Label, while it can still be made-to-measure as a bespoke dress (see photo of model wearing version as a white wedding gown...

British Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) designed this curvaceous uniquely-draped wool and hand-shredded silk-chiffon black cocktail-dress evening-gown for his Autumn/Winter 2002-2003 collection "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", which set a ready-to-wear $37,500 auction record in 2020 for its complimentary black billowing silk coat. Comparatively, a 1stDibs midi-dress listing similar to ours from his subsequent fashion-season collection for a raw-edge-cut silk chiffon red dress for Spring/Summer 2003 in good condition sold for $10,144. Our intricate ruched semi-transparent silk chiffon and sleek lined opaque wool hourglass midi dress is in very good condition. Although made in Italy, the tagged size 38 will suit a French 38/US 4-6. Like the 2020-auctioned coat from Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, the gown is also among the few that encapsulate this collection according to Alexander McQueen, who was quoted by magazine Numero: "This collection was inspired by Tim Burton. It started out dark and then got more romantic as it went along." This is why The Met Costume Institute showcased a runway ensemble including the aforementioned coat in its museum retrospective, "Savage Beauty", a year after the designer died...