André Courrèges (b. 1923) founded his couture house in 1961 and entered fashion history in 1965 with a fundamental redefinition of the female silhouette. The 'Courrèges bombshell', as the press of the time termed it, bore no relation to the past. The couturier put knees on show, did away with waist, hips and bosom, and put ornamentation on trouser legs. The Courrèges woman was a return to the codes of childhood, with no qualms about combining long white socks with flat shoes. This dress, worn by the wife of painter Léon Gischia and shown on model Penelope Tree in the April 1968 Vogue USA, used mockery as its aesthetic key. As shirt as a child's dress, it is decorated with a trompe l'oeil two-piece swimsuit, while its opaque organdie underlay is embroidered with blue Op Art circles.
Courrèges
