This is an incredible and early example of Karl Lagerfeld's work for Chanel. It's from the spring 1988 and it's near twin walk the runway that season and I'm very pleased to have video of that for you. Karl's first collection for Chanel was in 1983 which makes this piece from one of his earliest collections just 5 years later. I love how he took the iconic Chanel chain that would have only been used to weight the inside of a Chanel jacket up to this point and then flipped it to the outside to make it a feature on this dress. Taking those classic Chanel elements and changing the way that you saw them is part of what made his work for the house so iconic. It is an exceptional example of the work that Karl was doing for Chanel during this time period.

This dress is gorgeous and everything you want in a Chanel. The dress itself is made out of a black silk chiffon that has been sharply knife pleated. The pleats run from the top of the bodice to the hem of the skirt. Each pleat is the exact same size as its neighbour and meticulously done. The dress skims over your bodice, past the waist and over the top of the hips. Inside there is a full lingerie netting built-in corset that is boned and shaped to hold the dress in place around you. The dress is suspended from two tiny black silk straps that curve up and over your shoulders. There are a total of six gold chains that wrap around you. These start at the top of the bodice and end at the top of your hip. each one wraps around you to the closure at the side. The in corset zips to close on its own and then the dress closes with a series of hidden black buttons underneath a chiffon ruffle detail that runs all the way down the side of the dress from bodice to hem. The ruffle is done in the same knife pleating technique but horizontally for contrast. Eleven gold toned Chanel metal buttons sit at the base of the ruffle. They finish the end of each gold chain with another button set in between each chain. These are only decorative as the real closure are the hidden black buttons underneath but they had amazing detail. The chains that wrap around you play double detail in that they are also an amazing detail, but they functionally also hold the pleating in place. Underneath the final chain the pleats are allowed to open up and this gives you incredible movement through the skirt as you move. Underneath the final chain, the skirt is slit open to the hem so that you get a flash of bare leg as you move. This unexpected touch of sexiness is fantastic. This is one of those dresses that only truly come to life when on. It is an amazing and iconic piece of Chanel. It looks to have been worn very little if at all. Excellent condition.

Fully lined in a black silk chiffon. There is a built-in inner corset that is boned and has a stay at the waist and another stay just under the bust. Both of those hook to close. The inner corset zippers to close and then the dress buttons to close over that down one side.

Inner bust: 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner waist: 13.5-14.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Inner hips: to 20" flat across from side seam to side seam
Total length: 49" from top of the shoulder to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED

Item# DD4775

Reference Photo/Video: Spring 1988 Chanel Runway.

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