Coat

This Japonism-inspired cocoon coat by British designer John Galliano was featured in the spring/summer 1994 “Princess Lucretia” collection, a romantic and historically inspired collection with references to the Russian imperial family of the Romanovs and the lost Princess Anastasia, to Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina, to The Piano movie directed by Jane Campion, to the Duke of Edinburgh, and Madeleine Vionnet’s 1920s bias-cut, sylph-like dresses. This coat combines the Orientalist silhouette of Poiret’s "Opéra" coat from the 1910s with the rectangular planes of kimono sleeves, showing Galliano's affinity with Eastern modes of dress, French couture skills and his historical inclination.
In the first part of the 1990s, a deconstructionist, grungy aesthetic reigned supreme on the Paris fashion scene, so the “Princess Lucretia” collection was an antidote to that atmosphere and harbingered the more romantic fin-de-siècle tone of the late 1990s. The dramatic and sensual collection brought Galliano critical acclaim and international clients, combining the old world elegance and technical savvy typical of his hand. Eighteen months later, he was appointed creative director at Givenchy.