art
First Word: Papier Couture
design: Lia Griffith. photo: Manny Minjarez.
If it walks like a dress and talks like a dress, it may still be something else entirely. If a Galliano for Dior couture dress is sculptural and theatrical—a work of art—it is still made with the conceit that someone, somewhere will wear it to a grand ball perhaps…as a dress. The Papier Couture, project by designer Lia Griffith, is a collection of dresses sculpted from paper. They will walk the runway on Wednesday, September 6 at The Art Institute of Portland (1125 NW Couch) at 7 PM in a show sponsored by the AIGA.
These dresses have little in common with the paper dresses that were the rage in the late 60s. Scott Paper Company’s “Paper Caper” a $1.25 paper shift was the first, introduced in 1966, (it’s said they sold a half a million of them). We’ve only seen photos, but Griffith’s strategy appears to be that of elaborate piecing, overlapping fragments of paper like feathers, to create her dresses. She apparently collaborated with artist Sean Moran and photographer Manny Minjarez. More on this soon.
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