John Anthony is an award-winning American fashion designer best known for simple, elegant clothing with a strong sense of chic. His work veers towards minimalism, with sharp tailoring, striking evening wear being his signature. He is renowned for his cutting and tailoring. From the day that he launched his atelier in 1971 his design philosophy is a fusion of function and purpose. The function is his logical, wearable approach; the purpose, his pared-down ideas. As a designer, he considers it his job to make things easy for the customer. He designs with focus and a narrow palette for both day and night, so items can easily intermingle. He uses natural fabrics and is noted for contradictory daywear fabrics in his evening collections. In the early 70’s he was one of the first designers to promote the idea of easy-to-travel clothes that resist wrinkling. By 1976, he was showing soft, liquid separates in muted colours that became his trademark and received 2 Coty awards, one in 1972 and one in 1976, as recognition.
His business was all done on a made to order basis. That means the majority of pieces you will find are a one-off, or if there are similar pieces, very few of each piece exist. This personal attention to each dress is clearly seen in the workmanship of his pieces. His work is very expensive and beaded pieces did, and still do, retail for over $10,000. His work is a personal favourite of mine and I am thrilled to offer this exclusive nine piece capsule collection of pieces and samples that John pulled from his own archives to share with you.
The dress is stunning. It is made from a sleek black silk mix that falls and drapes beautifully. At the front it is cut in a simple sleeveless sheath with a high scooped neckline. The back dips into a very low squared off cut out that goes right to the waist to show a bare expanse of skin. Each side is also cut to go right to the waist seam so you get a flash of skin there that is very sexy. Inside it is lined in a hand jet black silk that feels amazing against the skin. The waist seam is set in a slightly curved line up towards the bodice and then the skirt falls from there to the floor in a stunning sleek column. It is cut super model long in length. I love that on one side there a very high slit. This leaves your leg exposed to the thigh and it is very sexy but in an insanely subtle and refined manner. The dress is just heavy enough to keep its sleek sculptural shape. It is very beautiful. It is stunning on the body. Excellent condition
Fully lined in a hand set black silk and closes at the back with a low set zipper . All the interior work is done by hand to demi-couture standards. It appears to have been worn very little if at all.
Bust: the fabric will cover to 14" across and it is open a each side
Waist: 14" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 18" flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: 13" from top of shoulder to waist
Skirt: 50" from waist to hem
Modern Sizing Equivalent: SML-MED
Item# DD3830
This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.
