The LITTLE BLACK DRESS Takes Center Stage

LITTLE BLACK DRESS
By André Leon Talley
Foreword by Paula Wallace, Texts by Maureen Dowd, Robin Givhan, and Gioia Diliberto
Photography by Adam Kuehl

“With every mood shift and proportion change of each collection, the little black dress morphs into a new character, season after season. Always.” – Marc Jacobs

Exhibition Schedule:
Savannah College of Art and Design’s SCAD Museum of Art: September 28, 2012 – January 27, 2013
Mona Bismarck American Center for Art & Culture: July – August, 2013

The little black dress (a.k.a. LBD) became an integral part of a woman’s wardrobe following the immense popularity of Coco Chanel’s crêpe-de-Chine “Ford” model black dress.

The epitome of chic, the black dress has helped define femininity and modernity throughout the decades and LITTLE BLACK DRESS is a celebratory tribute to these essential and timeless pieces.

This book accompanied an exhibition by the same name at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s SCAD Museum of Art held on September 28, 2012 – January 27, 2013 and at the Mona Bismarck American Center for Art & Culture: July – August, 2013.

The book was curated by André Leon Talley, and includes essays by top fashion journalists who discuss its essential, iconic place in every well-dressed woman’s wardrobe and the brilliant adaptations of the LBD’s form, fabric, silhouette and embellishments.

An embodiment of elegance, glamour, and power, the little black dress is a sartorial fashion phenomenon that has and at the always will inspire designers.

With images of more than 80 iconic dresses from the most eminent fashion houses, LITTLE BLACK DRESS features designs by Yves Saint Laurent, Carolina Herrera, Joseph Altuzarra, Oscar de la Renta, L’Wren Scott, and many more. From Audrey Hepburn’s slender garment in Breakfast at Tiffany’s to the modern and expressive designs of Proenza Schouler, this book presents the mastery and variation of silhouettes that have established the little black dress as a prized and coveted possession.