Vintage Courreges 1960s Haute Couture Coat

Andre Courreges was born in Pau, in the Basque country of France in 1923. In 1950 he was apprenticed to the Master, Balenciaga, working for his mentor until 1960. Courreges opened his own house, Maison de Courreges in 1961 designing pieces that were unusually minimalist for their time. And by 1964, he had shortened skirts and introduced cool and pale colours into the fashion vocabulary. His garments featured welt seams, top stitching bias, in gaberdine, double-faced wool, cotton lace, and leather.

During the 60’s Courreges assumed that all his clients lived in trousers. He dispensed with front pleats and cuffs, side pockets, fly-fronts and even belt-tab waists. His famed trouser suits, came with slit-backed boxy tops that showed a sliver of midriff. He was really the man who put women into trousers. He also made tube-shaped trousers and trousers cut on the bias; white dresses trimmed with beige and vice-versa; mid-calf length white boots and googles.

In 1968 Courreges hit the headlines with his SPACE AGE collection. His clothes at this time, were functional, uncluttered, futuristic designs. He was fascinated by metal and put his models into metal brassieres and bustiers. Andy Warhol said "Courreges clothes are so beautiful, everyone should look the same, dressed in silver. Silver merges into everything, costumes should be worn during the day with lots of make-up." Courreges' clothes were sharp, angular and subject to a highly disciplined design. Simple, stark, trapeze-shape dresses and coats were boldly piped in contrasting colours.