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Culture Minister defers export of haute couture dresses

011/09
23 January 2009

Culture Minister, Barbara Follett, has placed a temporary export bar on eleven dresses designed by the early 20th-century French couturier Madeleine Vionnet. This will provide a last chance to raise the money to keep the dresses in the UK.

The Minister’s ruling follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, administered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The Committee recommended that the export decision be deferred on the grounds that the dresses are of outstanding aesthetic importance and of outstanding significance for the study of the history of fashion.
 
Madeleine Vionnet (1876-1975) was one of the greatest couturiers of the 20th century. She worked for several Parisian fashion houses before setting up her own couture salon in 1912, creating original designs for individual clients. Her dresses were much in demand by European aristocrats and wealthy North Americans, who valued their highly sophisticated cut and construction. Her greatest contribution to fashion is her invention of the bias cut, which allowed the fabric to cling to and move with the female form. In 1925 British Vogue wrote: “The genius of Vionnet is expressed in the complicated cut of her gowns and the simplicity of their lines.” Many late 20th-century designers have paid tribute to Vionnet, including Ossie Clarke, Issey Miyake and John Galliano.
 
The eleven dresses were purchased from Vionnet by a single British owner between 1929 and 1938. They are superior examples of couture wear from one of Europe’s greatest couture houses and are, remarkably, still in excellent condition. They employ a variety of textiles, including silk jersey, tulle, cotton organdie, lace, and floral printed silk. They are considered significant for study because they demonstrate a variety of dressmaking techniques, such as smocking, embroidery, scalloped hems, and multiple tiers of lace. Together they show the impressive range of Vionnet’s skill and the qualities which made her ‘the designer’s designer’: precise cut, delicate construction and attention to finishing details.
 
Pamela Robertson, Reviewing Committee member, said: “Madeleine Vionnet is not well known in the UK and is under-represented in our public collections. As well as being beautiful objects with great public appeal, these dresses form a highly important research collection for students of fashion and social history.”
 
The decision on the export licence application for the dresses will be deferred for a period ending on 22 April inclusive. This will enable offers to be made to purchase any or all of the dresses at their agreed fair market prices, which total £449,385.05. The deferral period may be extended until 22 July inclusive if a serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer to purchase any or all of the dresses at the recommended price is expressed.
Anyone interested in making an offer to purchase the dresses should contact the owner’s agent through:
         
The Secretary
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council,
Wellcome Wolfson Building
165 Queen’s Gate
South Kensington
London SW7 5HD
Telephone 020 7273 8270

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Notes to Editors 

  1. Media enquiries on the operation of and casework arising from the work of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA) should  be directed to Senior Media Adviser,  Sunita Sharma, on 020 7273 8299, email: sunita.sharma@mla.gov.uk.

  2. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest is an independent body, serviced by MLA, which advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object, intended for export, is of national importance under specified criteria. Where the Committee finds that an object meets one or more of the criteria, it will normally recommend that the decision on the export licence application should be deferred for a specified period. An offer may then be made from within the United Kingdom at or above the fair market price.

  3. Pictures of the dresses are available. Please email sunita.sharma@mla.gov.uk (MLA no longer subscribes to the PixMedia website service.)

  4. Further details of the dresses are as follows: 
    a. Blue, red & black rose motif afternoon dress.  Vionnet, 1931.  £23,651.84
    b. Blue & red poppies printed on chiffon floor length evening dress.  Vionnet, 1934.   £30,409.51 
    c. White flowers on black net ballgown.  Attributed to Vionnet, c.1935. £23,651.84
    d. Cream organdie & black Chantilly lace ballgown and matching muff.  (Lesage), attributed to Vionnet, 1935.  £33,788.35
    e. Gold coloured tulle allover evening dress with pale coloured silk floss.  Vionnet, 1929.  £47,303.69
    f.  Coffee coloured tulle evening dress embroidered with autumn coloured silk floss.  Vionnet, 1929.   £54,061.36
    g. Cream tulle floor length ballgown with mock-smocked bodice.  Vionnet, 1934.  £57,440.19
    h. Cream tulle ballgown with matching velvet swallow design.  Vionnet, 1935. £43,924.85
    i. White organdie ballgown, embroidered with motif of bouquets of flowers and sheaves of wheat.  Vionnet, 1938.   £43,924.85
    j. Black Chantilly lace evening dress with appliqué of black velvet bows.  Vionnet, 1938.  £47,303.69
    k. Shell pink tulle with Catherine wheel embroidery evening dress.  Vionnet, 1929.  £43,924.85

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