CHRISTIAN DIOR c.1990's JOHN GALLIANO Stained Glass Print Velvet Bodycon Dress
View Similar Items
CHRISTIAN DIOR c.1990's JOHN GALLIANO Stained Glass Print Velvet Bodycon Dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Faint spot of discoloration on back left sleeve. Please refer to photos.
- Seller Location:Thiensville, WI
- Reference Number:Seller: EI:009399_1/E/W1stDibs: LU54132272273
John Galliano
Known for introducing rich theatricality and memorable fashion spectacles to the runway, John Galliano has enjoyed a singular career. The audacious British designer has garnered universal acclaim for genre-breaking collections not only at his eponymous label but also for Givenchy and Christian Dior.
From his embroidered absinthe-green Oscars gown for actress Nicole Kidman to the iconic sleeveless newspaper-print dress that Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw made famous, Galliano’s intricate and multifaceted work is reliably newsworthy, drawing on history as often as it embodies a fresh and forward-looking sensibility, and over the years the designer has helped shape an ever-broadening new legion of enthusiasts for Parisian couture.
Born in Gibraltar but raised in South London by strict Roman Catholic working-class parents, Galliano attended the all-boys Church of England grammar school, where his flamboyance and interest in art attracted the attention of bullies. Eventually, Galliano ended up at the prestigious design and art school Central Saint Martins College (then called Saint Martin’s School of Art), where fellow British designers Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen also trained.
Galliano flourished at Central Saint Martins. While a student, he worked in the costume department at the National Theatre in London. His graduate collection in 1984, dubbed “Les Incroyables” and named for post–French Revolution fashion lovers, was modeled by close friends of his and earned a standing ovation. The line ended up in the storefront windows of London luxury boutique Brown’s on South Molton Street, and Galliano’s first official collection — after he graduated — debuted at Paris Fashion Week in 1989.
In the early 1990s, Galliano’s relationship with his financial backer, Plein Sud’s Faycal Amor, ended, and by 1994, he was broke and sleeping on the floor of a friend’s apartment. Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour and then-Vanity Fair editor André Leon Talley stepped in and introduced the budding designer to Portuguese socialite and fashion patron São Schlumberger and others. At Schlumberger’s Hôtel Particulier, Galliano’s shows became the stuff of fashion legend. His collection, a blend of Japanese modernist style as well as nostalgia for Art Deco and 1940s’ tailoring, earned raves in glossy magazines and garnered the attention of Princess Diana, Madonna and other fashion luminaries.
Once the Galliano name was well known among the world’s most stylish set, the chairperson of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, appointed Galliano head designer of French fashion house Givenchy. One year later, in 1996, LVMH moved him to the design team at Dior, where he produced scores of celebrated looks for Dior Haute Couture. Today, Galliano is the creative director of Maison Margiela.
Shop vintage John Galliano evening dresses and gowns, handbags, jackets and other clothing and accessories on 1stDibs.
Christian Dior
When Christian Dior launched his couture house, in 1946, he wanted nothing less than to make “an elegant woman more beautiful and a beautiful woman more elegant.” He succeeded, and in doing so the visionary designer altered the landscape of 20th century fashion.
Dior was born in Granville, on the Normandy coast, in 1905. His prosperous haute bourgeois parents wanted him to become a diplomat despite his interest in art and architecture. However, they agreed to bankroll an art gallery, which Dior opened in 1928 in Paris with a friend.
This was the start of Dior’s rise in the city’s creative milieu, where he befriended Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau. After seven years as an art dealer, Dior retrained as a fashion illustrator, eventually landing a job as a fashion designer for Robert Piguet, and in 1941, following a year of military service, he joined the house of Lucien Lelong. Just five years later, with the backing of industrialist Marcel Boussac, the ascendant Dior established his own fashion house, at 30 avenue Montaigne in Paris.
Just two years after the end of World War II, the fashion crowd and the moribund haute couture industry were yearning, comme tout Paris, for security and prosperity, desperate to discard the drab, sexless, utilitarian garb imposed by wartime deprivation. They needed to dream anew.
And Dior delivered: He designed a collection for a bright, optimistic future. “It’s quite a revolution, dear Christian!” exclaimed Carmel Snow, the prescient American editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, famously proclaiming, “Your dresses have such a new look.” The press ran with the description, christening Dior’s debut Spring/Summer haute couture collection the New Look. “God help those who bought before they saw Dior,” said Snow. “This changes everything.”
Dior’s collection definitively declared that opulence, luxury and femininity were in. His skirts could have 40-meter-circumference hems, and outfits could weigh up to 60 pounds. They were cut and shaped like architecture, on strong foundations that molded women and “freed them from nature,” Dior said. Rather than rationing, his ladies wanted reams of fabric and 19-inch waists enforced by wire corsets, and the fashion world concurred. The debut got a standing ovation.
In the subsequent decade, Paris ruled as the undisputed fashion capital of the world, and Christian Dior reigned as its king. With the luxuriously full skirts of his New Look, suits and his drop-dead gorgeous evening dresses and ball gowns worthy of any princess, Dior gave women the gift of glamour they’d lost in the miserable years of war.
On 1stDibs, find an exquisite range of vintage Christian Dior clothing, jewelry, handbags and other items.
- RUDI GERNREICH Harmon Knitwear c.1971 Purple Red Mod Op Art Wool Knit Day DressBy Rudi Gerneich, Rudi Gernreich Design for Harmon KnitwearLocated in Thiensville, WIRUDI GERNREICH Harmon Knitwear c.1971 Purple Red Op Art Print Wool Day Dress VTG Brand / Manufacturer: Rudi Gernreich for Harmon Knitwear Circa: 1971 Designer: Rudi Gerhreich Style:...Category
1970s Casual Dresses
$1,447 Sale Price50% Off - OSCAR DE LA RENTA c.2000's Maroon Gold Floral Detail Front Zip Kaftan Maxi DressBy Oscar De La RentaLocated in Thiensville, WIOSCAR DE LA RENTA c.2000's Maroon Gold Floral Detail Front Zip Kaftan Maxi Dress Brand / Manufacturer: Oscar de la Renta for Neiman Marcus Circa: Early 2000's Designer: Oscar de la ...Category
Early 2000s Chinese Kaftans
$792 Sale Price50% Off - DIANE VON FURSTENBERG c.1970's DVF Abstract Print Silk Jersey Iconic Wrap DressBy Diane von FurstenbergLocated in Thiensville, WIDIANE VON FURSTENBERG c.1970's DVF Abstract Print Silk Jersey Iconic Wrap Dress Circa: c1970s Label(s): Diane Von Furstenberg / Neiman Marcus Exclusive Style: Wrap dress Color(s)...Category
1970s Tunics and Wrap Dresses
$312 Sale Price50% Off - GUCCI Resort 2012 Orange & Purple Floral Print Silk Colorblock Shift Dress NWTBy Frida Giannini, GucciLocated in Thiensville, WIGucci Resort 2012 orange and purple dual floral print silk color-block shift dress; New with tags. Dual Gucci signature floral prints; orange and white tr...Category
2010s Italian Shift Dresses
$327 Sale Price50% Off - COURREGES Couture Future c.1960’s Orange Mod Signature Logo Wool Sheath DressBy André CourrègesLocated in Thiensville, WICOURREGES Couture Future c.1960’s Orange Mod Signature Logo Wool Sheath Dress Circa: 1970’s Label(s): Courreges / Marie Leavell Product Line: Couture Future Couture: Yes / Number...Category
1960s French Sheath Dresses
$2,147 Sale Price50% Off - GIVENCHY Couture A/W 1998 ALEXANDER McQUEEN Ruby Red Wool Button Front DressBy Alexander McQueen, GivenchyLocated in Thiensville, WIGIVENCHY Couture A/W 1998 ALEXANDER McQUEEN Ruby Red Wool Knit Fitted Button Front Dress Circa: 1998 Label(s): Givenchy / Couture / Made In France / Paris / 8HG 8520152830 Desig...Category
1990s French Informal Dresses
$1,047 Sale Price50% Off
- Vintage 1950's Silk Brocade Butterfly Dress UK 8-10 US 4-6Located in Cheltenham, GBA marvel to behold, this original 1950's silk brocade dress in a vibrant shade of fuchsia pink with rose pink accents, in a wonderfully intricate butterfly pattern, is just the piece...Category
1950s Cocktail Dresses
- 1990' vintage red and black dress by Moschino cheap & chicBy Moschino Cheap and Chic, MoschinoLocated in LAGNY-SUR-MARNE, FR1990' vintage red and black dress by Moschino cheap & chic. In good condition some velvet pearls are missing (see pictures) but the overall state is impeccable. the top of the dress ...Category
1990s Italian Mini Dresses
- 1980’s Moschino Mare Vintage Minnie Mouse Knit Mini DressBy MoschinoLocated in Concord, NCSuper fun and whimsical rare Moschino late 80's/early 90's polka dot minnie mouse inspired dress accented with a yellow bow. Featuring a sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves. An iconi...Category
1980s Italian Day Dresses
- Art Deco Red Chiffon 'Flapper' Dress, manner Dufy & PoiretBy Paul PoiretLocated in Sharon, CTOffering a 1920's Red Silk Chiffon Art Deco 'Flapper' Dress in the manner of Paul Poiret with a printed black rose pattern in the manner of Raoul Dufy. Pleated sleeves and black vel...Category
1920s French Cocktail Dresses
- Jean-Louis Scherrer Boutique Paris Paisley Silk Day DressBy Jean-Louis ScherrerLocated in Sharon, CTOffering a Jean-Louis Scherrer Paris Silk Day Dress. Paisley print, top lined in black silk, buttoned up front, US size 8. A numbered Paris label (408309).Category
1980s French Day Dresses
- Alexander McQueen Pre-Fall 2015 Layered Fit & Flare Sleeveless Military Dress 38By Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, Alexander McQueenLocated in Chicago, ILDesigned by Sarah Burton for the Alexander McQueen Pre-Fall 2015 collection. Fit & flare with layered skirt portion of dress. Military Style. Epaulettes at shoulders. Sleeveless. S...Category
2010s Italian Cocktail Dresses
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How John Galliano Caused Fashion Chaos around the Globe
The visionary designer epitomizes the pleasures and perils of irrepressible creative genius.
The Best Ways to Dress for Your Astrological Sign
Makeup and astrology expert Linda Mason dispenses fashion advice for every zodiac sign. Does your wardrobe match your horoscope?