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Fabrice New York Vintage Evening Gown Spectacular Crystal Beads Grey Silk Sz L

$2,195
£1,676.06
€1,908.25
CA$3,082.13
A$3,369.37
CHF 1,782.55
MX$40,319.90
NOK 22,680.35
SEK 20,761.57
DKK 14,253.48

About the Item

Fabrice was a legend in American Fashion. He was worn by every celebrity you can think of during his time as a designer. This is the 1st Fabrice piece of clothing we have ever sold. Very proud to offer this spectacular dress for someone to treasure it as a collectible piece of American fashion history (and hopefully get a chance to wear it). We purchased it to start collecting Fabrice designs, but they are being collected by too many important collectors and museums and prices have skyrocketed, so we have decided to finally sell it before we retire. It is HEAVY. Especially the top. The workmanship on this dress is off the charts! It looks like a 2 piece gown, but it is one piece. The top floats over the skirt. Deep V back with the iconic Fabrice shoulder pads. The skirt has amazing detail on the back! Brilliant small pleats in the style of an Indian Sarong but the pleats are sewn in! Pics do not do it justice. It is a collectible work of art. Truly! The dress is not sized (we estimate a size 10) but it could fit a slim 12… and if you are a size 8, it is most definitely worth taking it in. It’s that special. Fabrice: Bio Fabrice Simon was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1951. He emigrated to New York with his family as a teenager. Simon attended Flushing High school in Queens; on the recommendation of an art teacher, he began working at the United Merchants and Manufacturers fabric house.1 He left to study textile design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, and returned to the fabric house as a textile and wallpaper designer. His next move as an independent fashion designer seems pre-ordained: his grandmother owned a successful couture establishment in Port-au-Prince and his mother worked as an independent dressmaker and seamstress for the American designer Geoffrey Beene. Under his given name Fabrice, Simon launched his first collection in 1975, elevating simple, draped garments by painting directly onto the fabric in allover patterns or engineered patterns that spoke to his expertise as a textile designer. Simon started his brand with an initial personal investment of a mere $3,000. By 1986 his label was grossing over a million dollars a year with 20 full time employees at his factory in Haiti. Henri Bendel was the first upscale department store to carry Simon’s work. After several years, his practice shifted, and his signature style emerged through a change in medium. He moved from using paint on fabric to “painting” with intricate, dazzling beadwork. Simon credited this new direction to his sister, Brigitte Stiebel, who ran production in the early days of his line. Steibel returned from a visit to Port-au-Prince, Haiti with a piece of beaded fabric and asked her brother to create a gown from it. By embracing beadwork, success came relatively quickly to Simon. He was named ESSENCE Magazine’s ‘Designer of the Year’ in 1980 and received a Coty Award in 1981. Simon exclusively designed evening wear, and these dazzling gowns with elaborate beadwork were in heavy rotation by New York City nightlife elites, Hollywood actresses, and pop stars. Simon was close friends with the socialite Cornelia Guest, daughter of CZ Guest, and the two were frequently photographed at hot-spots such as Studio 54–Cornelia glittering in a Fabrice cocktail dress and Simon elegantly standing by. Fabrice’s client list reads like a “who’s who” of the 1980s: Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Anne Douglas, Morgan Fairchild, Roberta Flack, Nina Griscom, Iman, Eleanor Lambert, Rita Moreno, Veronique Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, Kathleen Turner, Cicely Tyson, and Dionne Warwick all wore and were photographed in Fabrice. At first, the label catered to an exclusive clientele: a fully-beaded evening gown came with a price tag of around $8,000. While the fashion press reported on Fabrice’s work, his gowns gained a larger audience through televised events. Whitney Houston famously wore Fabrice to the 1988 Grammys and Shirley MacLaine donned Fabrice when she won an Academy Award in 1984.
  • Designer:
  • Brand:
  • Dimensions:
    Bust: 38.5 in (97.79 cm)Waist: 36 in (91.44 cm)Hip: 40 in (101.6 cm)
  • Style:
    American Desiner Fashion Icon (Of the Period)
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Palm Desert, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 10202511stDibs: LU2817227660132

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