1960s Fashion - Exhibit at the V&A Museum London

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Suit, Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-), 1974, Museum no. T.265&A-1984

Suit
Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-)
1974
Printed cotton
Museum no. T.265&A-1984
Given by Petra Siniaswski
The bold colours and flared trousers of this floral-printed suit were typical of 1970s tailoring. It belonged to the actress Petra Siniawski who bought it from the Biba store in the old Derry & Tom's building on Kensington High Street. 'It was a favourite outfit', she recalls. She wore it when she accompanied her agent to a Shirley Bassey concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

 

[softgrey]

Jacket, Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-), About 1970 and 1968. Museum nos. T.82-1991; T.13-1982

Jacket
Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-)
About 1970 and 1968
Jacket: lamé and mixed fibres
Museum no. T.82-1991

This jacket with zip detail is constructed from modern materials but the cut retains nostalgic elements. Biba was important in leading the trend for exaggerated retro styles that came to dominate youth fashion in the 1970s. The excesses of glam rock have also been traced back to Biba's version of 'camp'.

 

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Skirt and Top, Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-), 1968. Museum nos. T.170, 171-1995

Skirt and Top
Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-)
1968
Imitation linen (rayon)
Museum nos. T.170, 171-1995
Given by Pauline Dodington

This outfit is from the first mail-order collection of 1968. Before Biba, mail order meant cumbersome catalogues and cheap, dull clothes bought on credit. Hulanicki recruited graphic designer John McConnell to create a slim, stylish catalogue with a magazine editorial feel. Now women living outside London could enjoy the Biba experience too.

 

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Dress, Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-), About 1969. Museum no. T.203-1991

Dress
Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-)
About 1969
Acrylic jersey
Museum no. T.203-1991
Given by Karina Garrick

While some 1960s designers produced futuristic clothes, Hulanicki looked to the past for inspiration. The Art Deco print of this maxi-length dress recalls the glamour and decadence of the 1930s, while the tight, puffed sleeves and high collar are reminiscent of late 19th-century styles.

 

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Dress, Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-), 1971. Museum no. T.472-1993

Dress
Barbara Hulanicki (Biba) (1936-)
1971
Museum no. T.472-1993
Given by Suzanne Pegley

By 1971 the Biba boutique had grown into a large store stocking a wide range of Biba clothes. There were separate departments for menswear, childrenswear and household accessories. Barbara Hulanicki designed all the clothes and retained control of the colour co-ordination of all other products. This dress, with its swirling paisley design, is typical of the palette used for Biba's 'Granny' prints.

 

[softgrey]

Out of London
Paris and New York 1965–1968

'They were looking at us and we were looking at them.' Sylvia Ayton, designer
Until the 1960s, London's clothing industry operated in the shadow of the great Parisian couturiers. Paris, with its focus on made-to-measure garments for a fabulously wealthy, elite group of women, was the hub of international fashion. But suddenly, with the growth of the youth market, London began to set the pace.
Paris maintained its edge thanks to a group of young designers trained in the couture tradition but thinking into the future. Fashion houses such as Cardin, Courrèges and Saint Laurent learned to reach younger consumers. They opened ready-to-wear boutiques and concessions in department stores, and created 'space age' garments that were instantly copied in the high street.
In the United States, the youth market was massive and department stores made millions by importing London designs. But retailers also realised the potential of the boutique. In New York especially, homegrown boutiques flourished, selling exclusive, avant-garde designs to a sophisticated clientele.

 

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'Cosmos' Tunic and Sweater, Pierre Cardin (1922-), 1967, Museum no. T.703-1974

'Cosmos' Tunic and Sweater
Pierre Cardin (1922-)
1967
France
Wool jersey and knitted wool
Museum no. T.703-1974
Given by M. Pierre Cardin
Cardin's pioneering, futuristic clothes had a profound influence on 1960s fashion design. His menswear collection of 1960 included the collarless 'cylinder' jackets popularised by the Beatles' tailor Dougie Millings. The 'Cosmos' tunics, directly inspired by space travel, first appeared in 1965, complete with plastic visor, opaque tights and boots.

 

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Dress, John Kloss (died 1987), About 1966.

Dress
John Kloss (died 1987)
About 1966
New York
Cotton
Lent by Marit Allen

New York designer John Kloss shared his friend Ossie Clark's interest in the optical and graphic effects of colour and pattern, but he also drew much inspiration from contemporary abstract painting. When Saint Laurent's 'Mondrian' collection appeared in 1965, the New York Times claimed that Kloss had achieved the same effect two years previously.

 

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Dress, Paco Rabanne (1934-),1967.

Dress
Paco Rabanne (1934-)
1967
Paris
Plastic and metal
Museum nos. T.165-1983; T.163&A-1983
Worn and given by Baroness Helen Bachofen von Echt

Paco Rabanne led the field of radical experimentation in elite fashion design. Using techniques borrowed from jewellery, he created sculptural dresses in unconventional materials, which inspired inferior copies in London. Baroness Helen Bachofen von Echt wore this dress to a party in New York where she danced with Frank Sinatra.

 

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Dress, Leonard Joseph, 1965. Museum no. T.297-1974

Dress
Leonard Joseph
1965
New York
Gold paper and sequins
Museum no. T.297-1974
Given by Princess Stanislaus Radziwill

Designed with very unconventional materials for the avant-garde New York boutique Forward Look, this dress was worn by Princess Stanislaus Radziwill. She was the sister of Jackie Kennedy and a regular figure on the social scene on both sides of the Atlantic. Indeed the princess featured in Time's 1966 special edition on 'Swinging London'.

 

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Dress, Yves Saint Laurent (1936-), 1965. Museum no. T.369-1974

Bri-Nylon Mondrian style dress advertised in Vogue, March 1966

Dress
Yves Saint Laurent (1936-)
1965
Paris
Silk crepe
Museum no. T.369-1974
Given by M. Yves Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent used Dutch artist Piet Mondrian's abstract grid paintings to create a series of simple shift dresses that have become icons of 1960s style. They were immediately copied in man-made fabrics such as Bri-nylon. In 1966, in a shrewd business move, Yves Saint Laurent opened his first Rive Gauche boutique selling cheaper 'prêt-à-porter' clothes to a wider market.

 

[runner]

thank you softgrey for all the posts
that Pierre Cardin look reminds me of a singer Maki Nomiya (I think purechris knows of, Pizzicato Five) because she wears like that.
that's fun. and it is alive.
I hear the sound of Moog when I see those clothes.
Cardin's cosmocorps, barbarella by Paco Rabanne, etc

 

[snowqueen]

I adore the sixties and big thanks and *hug* to softie for posting all that stuff it must have taken you ages .. to to let you know i really apriciate it.

Im defently going to try to get down to london to take a look at this .. looks fab

 

[La bordélique]

Pierre Cardin look reminds me of a singer Maki Nomiya (I think purechris knows of, Pizzicato Five) because she wears like that.
that's fun. and it is alive.

They still carry lots of vintage Cardin in Harajuku, right?

 

[Goya]

Thank you softgrey for sharing this, I love sixties too. The dresses are really beautiful, I especially like these A line dresses, timeless elegant!

 

[arlekindearrabal]

thanks so much softgrey... really interesting info

 

[mustard]

im going seeing this exhibition in the next three days with college I have to gather research for a project im doing, '...you must design and construct an outfit based on sixties fashion and culture...to follow up the construction of your outfit you must style and photograph your outfit, again using sixties style as your inspiration. You will need to consider other aspects as well as your garment, such as, backdrops, composition, make up, accessories, hair styling atc...' i cant wait to start designing and im really looking forward to seeing the exhibition. Thanks for the pics softgrey

 

[Whitelinen]

The garments look very good, and I am getting a little bit fed up of the Sixties already...I wish someone would create something new so we could have retrospectives and exhibitions of something from which we do not already know everything.

Thank you for posting

 

[afterglow]

love sixties! love mod!

 

[susie_bubble]

Oh my god Soft - you're a gem for posting all of that stuff!
I blogged about this exhibition a while ago... it's not that extensive the collection but very well edited:
http://stylebubble.typepad.com/style_bubble/2006/06/groovy_baby.html