Terms and conditions of use
Cocktail dress
1953
Medium
silk, metal (fastening)
Measurements
110.0 cm (centre back) 33.5 cm (waist, flat)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Gina Willison, 2020
Gallery location
Level 3, NGV International
About this work
House of Youth was established by Samuel and Dora Stein as a draper, costumier and tailor catering to the general fashion market. The label produced affordable ‘Paris-styled’ wardrobes of day and evening wear, and from 1951 licensed versions of Dior’s New York line, luxury ready-to-wear collections. This dress replicates a ‘Christian Dior-New York’ design made under licence by the House of Youth. During the early 1950s, House of Youth catered to a cautious upper-middle class clientele who shopped for ready-made rather than custom-made clothing. The firm’s director, Philip Stein, promised customers the ‘prestige’ of Dior without any of its ‘extreme’ styles.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Sydney, New South Wales
Inscription
label, centre back neckline, woven in black on white silk: Christian Dior / EXCLUSIVE ADAPTATION / FOR AUSTRALIA BY / House of Youth
Accession Number
2019.1124
Department
International Fashion and Textiles