Ensemble, Christiane Bailly for Missoni

• Christiane Bailly for Missoni

• Gift of Christiane Bailly
• Spring - Summer 1971
• Knitted long sleeved tunic and skirt: knit variegated rayon yarn in five colors – fuchsia, blue, yellow, green, and black
• GAL1986.85.1abc
• Palais Galliera, musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris

This knitwear ensemble is typical in several respects of modernity in women's wear and its transformation in the 1970s.

It was in 1958 that Missoni began injecting a new, youthful feel into knitwear, turning it into a luxury item that combined daring materials and colours with formal simplicity and ease. Among the succession of Missoni designers was Christiane Bailly who, with Emmanuelle Khanh and Michèle Rosier, contributed to the rise of ready-to-wear, which she aimed to make creative and attuned to the times.

In the many fashion houses she worked for, Bailly always strove for a simple, pared-down look which found its natural expression during the association with Missoni, which began in 1968. The items were luxurious but never ostentatious, and the choices of colour and texture – in this case rayon – were always original. The garments matched the body's movements perfectly and in a sense conveyed woman's emancipation and her new place in society.

Notice's author : Laurent Cotta