I love this assiut dress! Images of this gown have appeared all over the web for the past decade. Usually, this dress is just tagged as assiut, or included in an unlabeled collection of fashion images. The year that this picture appeared in Vogue, I tore it out and pinned it to my inspiration wall. I grabbed two images, one from British Vogue (at left) and American Vogue (below top) I loved the excessive decadence, supreme luxury, and retro glam, including numerous allusions to bohemian styles of the first two decades of the 20th century. But who designed this dress?
British designer Johan Galliano included this in his fall 1997 haute couture collection for the French fashion house Christian Dior. He had only been the head designer for a year, and needed a major statement to really cement his role. Images from his collection appeared in virtually every fashion magazine that fall.
For American Vogue, editor Grace Coddington visualized decadent gowns in a magical garden. She put this fantastic gown on model Carolyn Murphy and styled her with an over the top red-orange wig dashing across a lawn. The photo was shot by Peter Lindbergh and was featured as part of a 10 page spread.
Here’s the opulent, over-the-top fashion show where the gown first appeared – can you spot it in this video? Be aware, Model Shalome Harlow appears in a topless gown, so this may not be safe for peeking at in every environment.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/Rj8DYXo3i7k
