1988 Hairclips Collection John Galliano Grey Wool Playsuit

John Galliano graduated from Central Saint Martins in 1984 with a first class honours degree in Fashion Design. In 1987, he won British Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards. This playsuit walked the runway for Galliano’s Fall 1988 Ready to Wear 'Hairclips' collection. The designer drew inspiration from the famous French photographer, Brassaï referred to as "the eye of Paris" for his striking photographs of Parisian life between the first and second world wars. Galliano also found inspiration from an unexpected object of beauty, the "hair clip". The models on the runway wore intricate hair clip designs in their hair, and some garments were held together with the clips.

Tailored in the style of a shorts suit, it has a double-breasted front with an asymmetric, sweeping lapel that secures at the waist - a signature detail of the designer’s early pieces and particularly of this 1988 collection. The canny tailoring builds volume at the sleeves and around the hips, creating a distorted, fluid silhouette around the wearer.

Made in England, this elegant piece is cut from 100% pure wool in a soft brown-grey and lined with coordinating 100% silk. It fastens with a hidden tonal zip at the front and is finished with five plastic buttons. The original aqua-on-burgundy Galliano label features lions and cockerels and this is a must-have piece for any archival collector of his early designs. This was the last collection that Galliano independently produced before moving to Paris in 1989.

In excellent, archival vintage condition with no flaws or marks. If we are being picky, there is a small amount of creasing to the lapels when it was dry cleaned at some stage but we consider this very minor. The size label reads size US 8, Europe 36, UK 10. The fabric does not have any stretch to it. Our model is a UK 8-10 and 5ft 11in (180cm) and this was a great fit on her with some room to spare.

MEASUREMENTS:

Bust - 38 in. (81 cm)

Waist - 28 in. (91 cm)

Hip - 37 in. (142 cm)

Length - 41 in. (140 cm)