In February 1945 Adrian was awarded the third annual American Fashion Critics Award. Thirty-two of the designer's garments were displayed at the award ceremony, including this ensemble which was part of his "Modern Museum" collection. With a palette inspired by Cubism, Adrian extended the abstractions of his earlier designs of the 1940s. Harper's Bazaar described this series as, "intricate as a puzzle and as modern as Picasso." Exploiting the dynamism of the Futurists and the geometric minimalism of the Constructivists, the interconnecting cell-like shapes reflect an abstract bimorphism. Adrian, however, eschewed the utopianism of the Futurist and Constructivist movements with a design philosophy that was firmly grounded in the realities of American life.
