Madame Grès, the drapery sculptor

I just loved to see the Madame Grès exhibition at the tiny and cozy Musée Bourdelle in Paris, this spring. Walking to the museum in a nice and sunny spring day in Paris was just the beginning of a wonderful experience, where art, fashion and location showed me how rich an experience you can get when you have hearing, sight, touch and smell involved.

The blue Parisian sky, the small cul-de-sac street where the museum is located in the heart of Montparnasse, the amazing sculptures in the garden overlooking the street, and the cherry blossom trees and newly blooming wisterias filling the air with sweet perfumes, were the perfect introduction to a exhibition that will be hard to forget.

Madame Grès wanted to be a sculptor. “For me it is just the same to work with fabric or stone”, said the designer who has her pieces hanging in chiseled pleats and folds among statues. The shape and drape of her designs look so up to date that one could easily wear one of her pieces to a dinner party and be the most elegant woman in the room. They are amazingly simple and still very strong, always respecting and shaping the female body.  Throughout the exhibition, I started to notice the designer’s signature details like cut-outs, asymmetrical necklines; body-skimming tucks that cascade into loose skirts, glamorous Grecian drapery, complex pleating, and all coming in a sculptural design.

 I felt absolutely in love with and orange and brown long dress, so modern and so perfect with three different lengths. Although completely draped from neck to toe, it totally shaped the body showing all the contours. Her ability to manipulate fabrics by  twisting, braiding, billowing and draping, into fluid shapes that enhanced the female form without obscuring it, was visible everywhere, and particularly in this piece. And yet the colors were so Lanvin FF 2011!

 I was also very impressed with a gray and white night gown with a burgundy bow at the back. The different textures and the perfect matching of the fabric at the back and the neckline, made everything look so simple and sophisticated at the same time.

The only thing I knew about the designer before getting in the museum, was that her work involved some draping and that she made my Mom’s favorite perfume, Cabochard  de Grès. But from now on, I will always remember Madame Grès for not only her amazing capability of “drawing” the dress around a woman’s body, but also for her beautiful sketches, that came together with fabrics.

 The combination of the location and dresses inspired me to think about the variety of work that human hands can do, and how different and how similar they can be. I could also understand why Madame Grès decided to work with fabrics instead of stones.

The Musée  Bourdelle was the perfect place to show Madame Grès art because it shows, by comparison, that a perfect dress can be as perfect as a statue gown, just with a different texture. And they are both art that require a rigorous craftsmanship. It is the perfect art/fashion alliance.

Madame Grès, la couture à l’œuvre – Until July 24, 2011

Musée Bourdelle

16 rue Antoine Bourdelle

75015 – Paris

www.bourdelle.paris.fr 


All the pictures are by Maryanne Mc Darby