evening dress

Edward Molyneux 1891 - 1974

Summary

Evening dress of black silk velvet. Labelled ‘Modele Molyneux, 60 Grosvenor Street, London’ on a side skirt seam. This dress is deceptively simple, cut on the cross to hug the figure, and with a cowl neck. Molyneux very often worked with a limited palette of colour: black, navy, beige and grey, and usually plain. He dressed a range of society women, and was friends with artists like Gertrude Lawrence and Noel Coward. Edward Molyneux (1891-1974) was one of the first English couturiers, opening his house in Paris in 1919. He had immediate success with his elegant and simple styling, and in 1932 opened a branch in London. His style offered a complete contrast to the richly embellished, extrovert and somewhat provocative fashions of his contemporaries, Lucile, Schiaparelli and, to a lesser extent, Mainbocher. Pierre Balmain, who worked for him, and Christian Dior both cited Molyneux as a major influence.