At the age of 31, Stephane Rolland took over as Artistic Director for the Jean Louis Scherrer Haute Couture atelier, making him the youngest of the 20 official couturiers at the time. That was in 1997 and he remained as the head of the Couture division until the last showing in 2005 when the house officials shuttered is couture business altogether. This dress is from the Fall 2001 Haute Couture presentation and it is the actual runway sample that was worn on the runway. It was Look 7 In the presentation that day. I have included several runway reference photos for you so that you can see just how spectacular the dress is once on an actual body. 

Any Haute Couture piece to come into the shop is a reason to celebrate but to have the actual runway sample is even that much more amazing. The dress is a work of art and is entirely made by hand to Haute Couture standards with the added touch of all those last minute adjustments done to perfectly fit the model to walk the runway that day. This is an amazing opportunity to see what few see; a dress straight from the atelier, overseen and fitted by the couturier himself for its debut on the runway. The entire dress is made from multiple panels of a red silk gazaar that are hand set to overlap themselves as they cascade down the length of the dress. The panels gradually become larger is they run downwards over the dress to the train at the back. They cover the entire dress from the strapless bodice to the very end of the train. By layering the panels the dress has a sense of depth and texture then even the photos can truly convey. Each panel is secured to the base fabric just along its edges so that there is a movement and lightness created when it is on and you move about. The inner part of the dress is cut to above the knee so that you get a long flash of leg at the front. The rest of the dress flows back and around you from there. At the back the train is very long and dramatic. The bodice is strapless and here the panels are set so that they form a peak upwards on one side. The interior is corseted and structured so that it firmly holds the dress onto the body and gives you shape. This is an incredible piece of modern Haute Couture and would have been priced well into six figures when it was originally made. Excellent condition with one small note to review below.

Fully lined in a fine red silk and closes with two zippers. One is on the interior corset and the second is on the outer layer of the dress. The interior corset is boned and shaped. The skirt is lined in a red silk taffeta. Done with Haute Couture construction techniques. The hand written runway sample tag is present. There is some deepening of the colour/ marks on some of the squares of silk that make up the train and some minor grubbiness from being worn for the runway and then stored. Nothing that detracts once the dress is on. It is close to a true zero and will zip properly in the back on the right sized person. 

Bust: 15-15.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner waist: 11.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner dress length: 26" from top of bodice to hem NOT including panels that go over the edge of the dress a bit above and blow the actual inner structure
Length including train to the very longest point:  Approx 92" from top of bodice to final tip of the train

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XXS-XS

Item# DD3054

Reference Photos: Fal 2001 Jean Louis Scherrer Haute Couture Runway Show.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

Jean-Louis Scherrer started off working for Dior in 1955, leaving there when Yves Saint Laurent was appointed to the head designer position. He then joined Louis Feraud and stayed there until launching his own couture label in 1962. He was known for his evening wear and soon had a loyal following. In 1971 he launched his ready-to-wear line. The earlier pieces especially were extremely well made and often had many hand finises throughout like this dress does. The construction of this dress in particularly is closer to demi-couture then RTW.

This is the dress you want when you really need to make an entrance and take center stage. It is completely covered in sequins. Every square inch of the exterior of the dress is covered in tiny hand placed and applied sequins. The main color is a pale silvery-gold and then there are copper sequins mixed in to give it that flame effect that you see. The combination of these form an incredible design that covers the entire dress. I call if the 'flame' dress because the shapes at the hem and the way the copper sequins are done, suggest flames scattered over the dress. The bodice is cut into a halter style and the straps curve up and behind the neck. This leaves the back completely bare and open. The dress skims over the waist and hips and then falls to about the ankles depending on how tall you are. The jagged hem lets you see a touch of skin underneath and this is deliberate so that there is no missing out on the incredible way the hem is finished with it jagged little ends. Even these have each been covered in sequins by hand. It is an incredible piece and looks to have been worn very little if at all. Excellent condition

Fully lined in an ivory silk and closes at the back with a metal and nylon zipper. It hooks to close at the back of the neck. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. Hand finishes throughout

Bust: 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: to 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to 19.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: approx 58" from top of neck to longest point at the hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD3411

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

Jean-Louis Scherrer was on of the great French couturiers in the grand Parisian style. He counted Sophia Loren and Jackie Kennedy as fans in his heyday and his work in the 1970s especially was wonderful. Opulence, hand beading and rich passementerie were his trademarks. He launched his own Haute Couture house after working at Christian Dior and stayed there until his dismissal in 1992. By that time period he had sold out all but 10% of his company. In 1977, the year that this gown was made, he was just reaching the top of his game as a couturier.

This dress, with its matching ruffled silk shawl, is tiny but perfect. I love the soft yellow silk organza that has been used for the skirt and the shawl. This choice of fabric allows it to have the volume that you see but without adding any weight at all. The skirt is cut to skim over the hips and that drops to that first extravagant ruffle. There are three ruffles in total that circle the skirt and each is wide and has yards of fabric in them. The skirt under the ruffles gradually widens as it reaches the hem. The movement and airiness the skirt creates in person is amazing. The shawl is made of the same silk as the skirt and is very long and finished with the same ruffled treatment we see on the skirt. It can be wrapped or just lightly held. Once this is removed that bodice of the dress is revealed and here is the true magic. It is strapless and fitted to the bust which balances against the volume of the skirt perfectly. Tiny sequins are hand placed to create that stunning floral design that you see. The edges of the green sequin leaves are done in the smallest glass tube beads. Little glass crystals edge other parts of the design and create a border across the top of the bodice. The workmanship is exquisite and the care and time to have created the design using only the finest, smallest of beads and sequins is astonishing. The entire dress is finished to Haute Couture standards and it is even more beautiful in person. Excellent condition with a small note to review below

Fully lined in the same silk organza that is used on the exterior. All of the work throughout is done by hand done to the edgings of the inner seams. It zips to close with a painted metal zipper and the exterior skirt snaps to close over the zipper. An inner waist stay hooks to close. The bodice is lightly boned. It will of course close all the way but was small on my dress form. I see one tiny dot of a mark just under the bodice seam and a tiny repair near the base of the back closure. Numbered tag 002576

Bust: 15" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: open
Bodice: 9" from top of bodice to waist
Skirt: 42" from waist to hem
Shawl: 9' long x just over 5' wide

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XXS-XS

Item# DD3393

Reference Photos: (1) 1976-1977 Fall-Winter Women's haute couture runway show.  /  (2) Jean Louis Scherrer with model, 1977.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

Jean-Louis Scherrer was a Parisian fashion designer and couturier. He trained under both Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent while at Dior. He worked briefly for Louis Feraud and then launched his own fashion house in 1962. From 1962 to 1992, Jean-Louis Scherrer dressed some of the most prestigious women in the world, including Jacqueline Kennedy, Princess Paola of Belgium, Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch and many more. His work was known for known for being opulent, with hand-beading, embroidered and lavish trimmings, all done on the very best of fabrics. It is wonderful to have such a beautiful piece of his work in the shop. This example is unlabeled but comes to me from its original owner. 

This dress is exceptional and a remarkable example of Mr. Scherrer's work. The color is amazing. It is a bright spring green that is mixed with a slightly deeper green and then a white to create the floral print that you see. This is screened onto a fine silk gazar that has a secondary floral print woven directly into the silk, adding to the rich feel of the fabric. The print is huge and exuberant, covering the entire dress from head to toe. The skirt is wonderfully full with yards and yards of bias cut silk. This floats over a series of inner silk and tulle skirts that create shape and volume. The bodice is constructed so that it has the feel of a sculpted evening jacket but it is fully attached. The collar is set so that is sits slightly raised and frames the neck. It is also cut wider across so you get this lovely glimpse of the collar bones before it plunges into a mid-V at the front. Large bejeweled gripoix poured glass buttons detail the front. The sleeves taper in as they near each wrist. The waist curves in with a beautiful line and then flares over the hips, curving down and around the back. An attached half belt that is finished with a bow adds additional shaping through the lower back. It is beautiful and has a lovely formal feel but without feeling too stuffy. In excellent condition with one minor note to review below

Both pieces are fully lined in in a fine deep green silk. It closes with middle set zipper at the back and each sleeve has a zipper at its cuff. Under the buttons at the front are hidden hand set, silk covered snaps. The skirt has an two inner skirts, one of which has a tulle layer attached starting just under the hip. Hand finishes. There is one small repair and small marks near the hem of the back skirt near the side seam. Please see the last photo provided

Sleeves: 22"
Shoulders: 14.5"
Bust: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 13.25" flat across from side seam to side seam
Innermost lining hips: 19.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 15" from top of bodice to waist
Skirt: 44" from waist to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD3279

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.

At the age of 31 Stephane Rolland took over as Artistic Director for the Jean Louis Scherrer Haute Couture atelier. At the time he was the youngest in the world of the 20 official couturiers. That was in 1997 and he remained at the head of the atelier until the label's final showing in 2005 when the house closed its couture division. This dress is from the Spring 2000 presentation and is the actual runway dress. It was Look 16 in that show and is the house sample. This particular collection has little documentation and I have included reference photos of a similar dress that used comparable techniques from the salon before this one so that you can get a sense of how it sits on the body. The dress did come directly from the house archives. The dress is spectacular and is perhaps the only one that was ever made making it that much more important in its place in fashion history. 

Having the actual runway sample in the shop is always a wonderful thing as it truly represents the designer's vision. It has not been tweaked in any way to satisfy a client and the runway sample are often more dramatic and fantastical then what is later produced for and bought by clients. This dress is even more stunning in person and the photos really do not do it full justice. The impact that hundreds of thousands of silver sequins on a metal mesh have in person cannot be proper conveyed until you see it in front of you. In person the entire dress shimmers in the light and despite the dense covering of sequins it seems like a second skin once it is on and it flows over the body. The fabric is an actual silver metal mesh with hundreds of thousands of silver sequins hand applied to cover every inch. The sequins are tiny and packed on so densely that they overlap each other. You can see just how tightly spaced they are in the detailed photos I have included. The mesh base gives the dress the slightest hint of transparency so that once on, and with the light behind you, you see the outline of the body underneath. It is very sexy. It has a single wide cut shoulder that curves up and around on the one side while the other shoulder is left completely bare. The dress flows down and over the body from there. It is cut to highlight your curves from the bust to the hips and then the skirt flows to the floor widening out as it nears the hem. It is very long and is cut with a slight trained effect at the back. The mesh acts like a bias cut fabric on the body and hugs and moves with you as you move. Horsehair fringe has been hand applied and looped through the mesh along the neckline and then on an angle around the hip to the back to create a curving line around the dress. The back is finished with a trained effect. It is an incredible piece of modern Haute Couture and these would have sold for well over six figures originally. Excellent condition

Unlined and closes with a hidden set back zipper. Hand work throughout. This is the actual runway sample worn and is not labeled and came directly from the Scherrer archives. The fabric gives it the flexibility of a bias cut so has a bit more range of sizing then a more structured piece would have. The dress is heavy and weighs several pounds because of the metal mesh and sequins. All the work is done by hand to Haute Couture runway sample standards. It would have only been worn once for the runway

Bust: 16-17.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12-14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 16-20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: approx 63" from top of shoulder to the front hem, approx 69" to the back hem including the train to the very longest point

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD3058

Reference Photos: F/W 1999 Haute Couture Jean Louis Scherrer Runway Collection.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.