1993
MARC JACOBS
for PERRY ELLIS
Dress
Spring/summer 1993
Perry Ellis, American, founded 1978
Marc Jacobs, American, born 1963
Black rayon-Lycra jersey
Gift of Perry Ellis International, 1993 (1993.97)
1965
RUDI
GERNREICH
Dress
Autumn/winter 1965–66
Rudi Gernreich, American, born Austria, 1922–1985
Black synthetic jersey
Gift of Jane Holzer, 1974 (1974.384.24)
The 1990s saw the maturation of Generation X, young adults who spurned the signifiers of wealth and luxury that had defined the previous decade. Marc Jacobs’s spring/summer 1993 collection for Perry Ellis was inspired by the American Pacific Northwest’s burgeoning grunge music scene. With layers of plaid shirts, printed dresses, cropped tees, and slouchy knitwear, the collection was a radical departure for the traditional sportswear label and resulted in Jacobs’s dismissal. With its naval-framing tear, this knit dress evokes the youthful spirit of Gen X while alluding to the ripped clothing worn by grunge musicians. Its externally finished seams suggest the garment is inside out, and its elongated sleeves make it appear stretched by wear.
Jacobs’s dress references this version by Rudi Gernreich, which epitomizes the designer’s egalitarian approach to a fashion system that he asserted “filter[ed] up not merely from youth to age but from lower economic class to upper.” Like its successor, Gernreich’s dress features a slim, body-hugging silhouette detailed with a round neckline and elongated sleeves. Photographed on Andy Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick in a 1965 Life editorial extolling the young socialite’s rebellious style, the design was described by the magazine as “resembl[ing] a stretched out T-shirt.”
Jacobs’s dress references this version by Rudi Gernreich, which epitomizes the designer’s egalitarian approach to a fashion system that he asserted “filter[ed] up not merely from youth to age but from lower economic class to upper.” Like its successor, Gernreich’s dress features a slim, body-hugging silhouette detailed with a round neckline and elongated sleeves. Photographed on Andy Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick in a 1965 Life editorial extolling the young socialite’s rebellious style, the design was described by the magazine as “resembl[ing] a stretched out T-shirt.”