The fashion plates of the winter collection 1956–57, preserved in the Abraham Archive, provide a graphic record of the early days of Hubert de Givenchy’s collaboration with Abraham Ltd. The name of Givenchy, whose great hero and mentor was Cristóbal Balenciaga, has become inextricably linked to two of the women he clothed: Audrey Hepburn and [...]
Characteristic of Balenciaga’s creations is their sculpted, architectural quality. The perfect material for this was gazar, a crisp, semi-sheer etamine fabric that was a specialty of Abraham Ltd. After struggling to adjust to the emergence of prêt-à-porter and slow but steady decline in the demand for haute couture, Cristóbal Balenciaga closed his fashion house in [...]
Gustav Zumsteg’s first meeting with Yves Saint Laurent, at the funeral of Christian Dior in 1957, marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship. The two men’s business ties also lasted several decades, their unparalleled collaboration benefiting greatly from the fact that they were kindred spirits. Yves Saint Laurent’s last haute couture collection of 2002 coincided [...]
The sixties and seventies was an era of great optimism which saw the emergence of a new way of looking at the world. Fashion was now an expression of unbridled joie de vivre. Large designs were en vogue and Abraham Ltd. had mastered the art of the blow-up as had no other. gigantic flowers exploded [...]
During the 1930s, Abraham was under the leadership of Gustav Zumsteg. He regularly stayed in Paris and became acquainted with a number of influential artists, from Georges Braque to Marc Chagall and Alberto Giacometti, and famous couturiers, such as Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, Elsa Schiaparelli and Yves Saint Laurent. These great names from the art [...]
“Fashion passes, style remains” is a famous quote by the historic fashion designer and entrepreneur Coco Chanel. With the exhibition ‘The Chanel Legend’ the Draiflessen Collection tackles the question why Coco Chanel has never yet ceased to arouse such great interest both as a person and as the brand she founded. Her biography and image [...]
Abraham Ltd. worked with many of the great couturiers. The list of its customers therefore reads like a who’s who in the world of international couture. It was Gustav Zumsteg who in the 1940s made the first tentative contacts with fashion designers, some of whom would become lifelong friends. The four names that are now [...]
On April 17th & 18th, Europeana Fashion will host an international fashion conference in Florence, Italy. Titled “Fashion Industry and the GLAM Community”, the conference will explore the creative synergies between the fashion industry and the heritage sector. The conference is bringing together speakers from the field, who will explore the limits and opportunities of [...]
Imagine a place where you can discover centuries of fashion, from the latest styles of Europe’s 17th century courts to the runway looks of fashion week. Browse through thousands of objects, photos, videos, magazines, books, exhibitions, sketches and catalogues, all about fashion. This place will be called Europeana Fashion and it will be an online [...]
While some of us are dressing and parading down the street in the spirit of Carnival, Christin Ho, our library colleague, shares some interesting thoughts on this theme of the year: Carnival in the MoMu-library! Going through our turn-of-of-the-century magazines we noticed the juxtapositions of attitudes towards celebrating Carnival. The collective mix of curiosity and [...]
