1915 Lanvin Silk Brocade Evening coat with Ottoman Influences
Label: Jeanne Lanvin / Paris / Octobre 1915
Origin: French
Materials: silk brocade shot with bronze thread, silk lining, gold metallic lace, silk rosettes, gold lame
Description: A very important, RARE, high-style, museum-quality garment that shows the Orientalist influence of Poiret.
This piece is exceptional and belongs in a museum or a private collection of serious worth.
In 1910, Poiret started really getting excited with Orientalism. His silhouettes, his fabrics and materials, the way he chose to drape the body rather than confine it were revolutionary. Jeanne Lanvin was a fellow couturier who was at the height of her powers. This coat from her autumn 1915 collection is not only relevant to her work (she also was instrumental in creating the new silhouettes; one of her most famous styles was her signature 1920s robe de style, gowns that belled at the hip and had panniers), but shows the influence of Paul Poiret as well.
It is an amazing textile, from construction, to silhouette, to fabric, to variety and mating of materials. The style is Orientalist, western Asian, echoes of the court of the Ottoman Empire. Rich silk brocade is woven a disposition to exhuberant effect, displaying a rich garden of flowers and foliate patterns in golds and bronzes, emeralds, Persian blues -- all against the backdrop of a deep, rich purple subtly shot with bronze lame threads. The fabric alone is an important, museum-quality textile. Integrated into this revolutionary, show-stopping garment, it is a rare, valuable treasure.