paco rabanne

Extraordinary Fall 1992 Paco Rabanne Haute Couture Runway Sample Look 31 Metallic Gold & Black Silk Caftan Dress

  • This is the actual dress that walked the runway for Look 31 for the Fall 1992 collection as noted in its hand written tag.
  • It was made under the creative direction of Paco Rabanne
  • I love that we have runway video of this one so you can see how fantastically that it moves once it is on the body and you are moving.
  • The piece would have been made entirely by hand in the Paris Atelier.
  • There is an inner built in black silk sheath dress that skims over the body from the shoulder to the hem and then you have the multiple added layers of the black silk and silk chiffon placed over that by hand.
  • The fabrics used are incredible. Both the silk and silk chiffon have had a metallic gold eyelash weave in a flat velvet applied that gives the dress an incredible bit of a metallic glint from every angle.
  • The very top part of the dress that runs across the shoulders is made from a black silk and then the rest of the top layer of the dress is made out of a black silk chiffon. Both fabrics have the gold overlay done over their surfaces. 
  • It has very full sleeves that have no lining so that you have a touch of transparency. They are set to poof out above a wide cuff at the wrist. Each cuff is made out of black silk and zips to close with a handset black zipper.
  • The panels that cover the dress are extreme and extravagant. These are what give the piece the movement and volume that a caftan would have except it is all done in the most extravagant of ways. Long panels are split length ways and upwards to various degrees and this is what allows the silk to move with the slightest bit of air around you. This simple and ingenious extra detail with these vertical splits are really what add movement. It also breaks the pattern as you move, and then when you stand still the pattern, all settles back into place. It is quite genius. It also what gives the hem its pointed detailing.
  • The neck is cut wide across the shoulders and then the entire top layer of the dress floats down and around you from there.
  • The metallic gold pattern that covers the entire dress is perfectly mirrored from one side to the other. Each piece of fabric would have had to have been pre-planned and deliberately made to specifically piece together to achieve the final look of the dress.
  • It closes with a hidden set back zipper. The upper portion of the bodice is not lined and the backing has an almost canvas feel to it. The inner sheath part of the dress is lined in a black silk. All of the work is done by hand to Couture standards.
  • There is no size tag present so please go by the listed measurements below. Note that it looks like the hem of the inner dress was taken up at some point so I have included how much has been turned under in the measurements below. I see some light marks on the inner dress that do not show but mention for accuracy.
  • Excellent condition

Sleeves: 30" and are 17" around the upper arm
Shoulders: 15"
Inner bust: 17-18.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner waist: to 13 " flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner hips: 18-19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 58" from top of shoulder to inner hem with 2.25" turned under. The outer dress extends another 10" past that.

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD5257

Reference Video: Fall 1992 Paco Rabanne Couture.

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Please review all measurements carefully. More often than not, vintage garments do not fit any size category exactly. If in doubt, measure a garment of your own that fits and is a similar cut and compare it's measurements to the listed measurements below.

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