1968: The End of True Couture?
- By The Museum at FIT
- In Fashion Designers Fashion Films Videos
- Tagged with André Courrèges Cristóbal Balenciaga Emanuel Ungaro Pierre Cardin Yves Saint Laurent
- On 11 Apr | '2017
There are a number of reasons I decided to conclude Paris Refashioned in 1968. One was a consideration of aesthetics: by this time, the hard-edged geometry of earlier designs was giving way to softer, more eclectic styles influenced by the hippie movement. Even more important, however, were changes to the fashion industry itself. Cristóbal Balenciaga, the reigning leader of Paris couture, closed his house in 1968, lamenting that it had become impossible to design true couture.
Although he was clearly frustrated, Balenciaga’s work from the 1960s is exceptional. A dress from The Museum at FIT, created just before Balenciaga’s retirement, provides an example of the canted hemline he refined over the course of the 1960s. When the wearer moved, the dress would swing to create a perfectly conical shape. When she stood still, the fabric fell into soft vertical folds. A video from the same period offers a glimpse of the designer’s stunning work in motion.
1968
Gift of Mrs. Ephraim London, Mrs. Rowland Mindlin, and Mrs. Walter Eytan in Memory of Mrs. M. Lincoln Schuster
78.134.6
Emanuel Ungaro and Sonia Knapp
- By The Museum at FIT
- In Fashion Designers Objects
- Tagged with André Courrèges Cristóbal Balenciaga Emanuel Ungaro Sonia Knapp
- On 4 Apr | '2017

Some of Ungaro’s most compelling creations were made in collaboration with textile designer Sonia Knapp. Although Knapp was an established textile designer, she had never made couture fabrics prior to working with Ungaro. She quickly rose to the challenge, and her colorful, fluid designs – which often conveyed her interest in Abstract Expressionism – were said to “wake Ungaro up.”
The soft lines of the fabric Knapp designed for this coat echo its curved lapels and rounded patch pockets, while simultaneously contrasting the coat’s hard-edged, A-line silhouette. The garment’s immaculate construction – best exemplified by the perfectly-matched fabric – demonstrates that there remained a place for couture craftsmanship within 1960s fashion. Yet Ungaro also understood the increasing importance of ready-to-wear: in 1967, he launched a readymade line called “Emanuel Ungaro Parallèle.” The label’s offerings allowed Ungaro to design in a relaxed and lighthearted matter.
(Fabric by Sonia Knapp)
1968
Gift of Rodman A. Heeren
72.112.73
Accessories by André Courrèges
- By The Museum at FIT
- In Objects
- Tagged with André Courrèges Cristóbal Balenciaga Isabel Eberstadt
- On 15 Mar | '2017

1962
Donated in memory of Isabel Eberstadt
by her family
2007.46.79
1963
Donated in memory of Isabel Eberstadt
by her family
2007.46.75
In 1964, Courrèges introduced his “Space Age” styles, which firmly placed him among the most forward-thinking of couturiers. While white, sculptural hats were integral to the head-to-toe look, Courrèges’s shiny white boots became one of his most popular and enduring designs. Made with a peep toe and cut-outs around the shin, the boots were fastened up the center back with Velcro. Relatively new to the commercial market, Velcro was also being used by NASA to anchor items inside its spaceships. It is clear that Courrèges directly connected his design to developments in space travel.
1964
Gift of Ruth Sublette
77.183.2CD
Balenciaga and Givenchy
- By The Museum at FIT
- In Objects
- Tagged with Cristóbal Balenciaga Hubert de Givenchy
- On 15 Feb | '2017

By the early 1960s, fashion critics had begun to complain that Givenchy was relying too heavily on styles pioneered by Balenciaga. Nevertheless, both couturiers continued to be enormously successful, and each had a large clientele in France and the United States. These voluminous coats, owned by the American heiress Doris Duke, reveal that the designers shared ideas as well as clients.
Right: coat by Cristóbal Balenciaga, circa 1957
Photo by Eileen Costa. © 2017 The Museum at FIT