• The twin of this extraordinary dress walked the Spring 2012 Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture runway.
• It was made under the creative direction of Alexandre Vauthier
• Alexandre Vauthier launched his label in 2009. He started his fashion career in 1993 working for Thierry Mugler as an intern and working his way up to assistant designer to Mugler himself. In 1997 he joined Jean Paul Gaultier where he in charge of the Couture collections for the following eight years. 
• He left in 2008 to open his own couture atelier showing his first collection in 2009. From 2011 to 2014 the label was a designated guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de haute couture and since December 2014 he has been a full Couture member. Vauthier departed the label in 2025 marking the end of the Couture division.
• This is the actual piece that was shown on the runway and may very well be the only one in existence. I love that we have both the runway reference photos and video. You can see how fantastically it moves and looks once on the body.
• The dress would have been made completely by hand in the Paris atelier.
• The dress is made from a pale lavender silk chiffon that is of extremely high-quality. It has the slightest bit of texture to it, and is all cut on the bias. The colour is even softer than how it photoed and better in person.
• The seam work on this dress is extraordinary. It is a strong nod back to Couture pieces of the 1920s and 1930s. I have taken some close-ups through the body so that you can see the extraordinary hand done piece-work that has gone into putting the various panels of the dress together to create the flowing masterpiece that you see.
• The dress is wonderfully simple in the way that it goes onto to the body. You simply slip it on and it hooks and snaps into place around the waist leaving it to flow freely over the body from shoulder to hem.
• This wrapping around you and hooking into place leaves a high slit up one side so that when you walk or move you see a flash of bare leg. You can see this in the reference photos and video.
• The bodice is cut to drape loosely over you and has a plunging V at the front, both sides, and at the back. On the runway it was shown over an inner nude piece for the minimum amount of modesty It could be worn like that in real life or a layered over something underneath if you wanted a bit more coverage.
• The waist is brought in with a wide doubled band of the same silk chiffon and the panels of the bodice blouse softly over the waist band all of the way around you. There is a second interior halter inside at the front that sits slightly more fitted to the body and adds one extra layer of chiffon.
• The dress curves out over the hips and then the beginning of the volume that you see for the lower skirts is all created by the inset panels that have all been hand placed and sewn.
• The amount of silk chiffon in the skirt is remarkable. It falls slightly shorter to the front and then curves out around you in a sweep of skirts that is just phenomenal. I love that we have runway videos so you can see how amazing this dress is once it is on and moving.
• The dress has a single layer interior halter bodice and the skirt is unlined. It slips on and then wraps and closes with a hook and hidden set clear snaps at the waist. This is the actual dress that was worn on the runway and is completely made by hand. It is the original runway sample dress. You could move and adjust the hook and snaps at the waist to get the perfect fit.
• There is no size tag present because it is Haute couture sample so please go by the measurements listed below
• Excellent condition

On the runway, the dress was shown with a fur shrug. If you are interested in acquiring that I may be able to source that for you independent of this dress. Please touch base to chat further.

Bust: each inner halter covers to 7" flat across from side to side
Waist: 13" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: approximately 16" from top of shoulder to waist and meant to blouse slightly over the 2.5" band around the waist
Total length: 69" from top of shoulder to front hem and the back extends up to another 17" past that.

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5498

Reference Photo/Video: Spring 2012 Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture, Look 23.

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.

• The twin of this extraordinary dress walked the Fall 2011 Vauthier Haute Couture runway.
• It was made under the creative direction of Alexandre Vauthier
• Alexandre Vauthier launched his label in 2009. He started his fashion career in 1993 working for Thierry Mugler as an intern and working his way up to assistant designer to Mugler himself. In 1997 he joined Jean Paul Gaultier where he in charge of the Couture collections for the following eight years. 
• He left in 2008 to open his own couture atelier showing his first collection in 2009. From 2011 to 2014 the label was a designated guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de haute couture and since December 2014 he has been a full Couture member. Vauthier departed the label in 2025 it was acquired by Revolve marking the end of the Couture division.
• This is the actual piece that was shown on the runway and may very well be the only one in existence. I love that we have both the runway reference photos and video. You can see how fantastically it moves and looks once on the body.
• The dress is made from a red silk chiffon that has an extensive and very dense application of red bead work hand applied onto it.
• Every line of the dress has been precisely cut and patterned so that it falls perfectly in the lines that he intended it to be shaped in. 
• The shoulders are soft and extend into long cut sleeves that are also completely and densely beaded to match the body of the dress. In the runway photo the shoulders look slightly more shaped than the dress in person to me and I think that they may have added temporary padding to style it for the show. Adding your own is a decision that could be made once you have it in hand and try it on.
• The dress is cut to skim over the body and highlight it everywhere. The sleeves are cut a little extra long so that once on the arm they bunch up a touch. There is a cut out. opening that is left under each arm. I have photoed that so that you can see. This was probably done not only as a design choice but to allow movement and not have to worry about the bead work being constricted.
• The neckline is scooped and the dress is shaped to come in at the waist and then curves back out and around the hips so that it skims perfectly over the body. 
• The beadwork that sits over the sleeves and body of the dress has been done and a little sections that curve around each other and catch the light differently as you move. You can see in the video how this creates an almost flame like feel over you.
• The skirt is absolutely amazing. As the beads run down over the hips to join into the skirt they become these long flame like ribbons of bead work that extend into varying lengths down and into the skirt. The effect is absolutely beautiful and perfectly picks up on the way the beads were executed through the body of the dress.
• Under the beadwork, the skirt is made out of a red silk chiffon that is very light and weight. It curves slightly up at the front and then extends out into two angled points at the back which again feels like an extension of the flame motif that the dress has.
• You can see on the runway that once very bright lights hit the skirt, it has a sense of transparency to it. That is quite extraordinary and done to highlight the bead work and add a bit of sexiness to the dress despite it full coverage. At the back it trails out past the hem to float around you as you walk.
• The dress is amazing on the body and it is just a beautiful and very sexy dress and an extraordinary little piece of true Haute Couture fashion history.
• The upper portion of the dress is lined in a silk chiffon through the body and the skirt is unlined. It closes with a hidden set back zipper and each cuff closes with a hidden set zipper. This is the actual dress that was worn on the runway and is completely made by hand. It is the original runway sample dress. The beads have been hand sewn so closely to the edges of the zipper that you do have to take care when zipping and unzipping the dress as they can catch and you can see a little bit of catching of thread and perhaps the very occasional missing bead here and there along that edge. I am being pretty picky. This was done to give the illusion that the dress has no opening. Inside the silk chiffon that was used to line the dress is very delicate and there have been some repairs made. This was probably done after the runway show to strengthen parts of the inner lining and can be typical of runway samples. I also see a touch of a mark on one arm on the inner lining, a small tear and some repairs to the silk of the lining. None of this shows through but is mentioned for accuracy and is photoed after the label shot. Some of the seam work is handed basted and this adds to the feel that this is the original sample because that is often how you see runway samples finished.
• There is no size tag present because it is Haute couture sample so please go by the measurements listed below
• Excellent condition

Sleeves: 28" and they are 9.5" around the upper arm
Shoulders: 14"
Bust: 16-16.25" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 90" from neck to the very longest point at the back hem and the shortest point at the front fall to 49"

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5463

Reference Photos/Video: Fall 2011 Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture.

All items are thoroughly checked over before shipping. Unless noted everything in our shop has been professionally cleaned. All sales are final. Overseas clients will be emailed to obtain agreement to our final sales policy before the order is shipped as per our return policy.