The Secret World of Couture: inside the unique V&A Archives

For the Autumn 2005 print issue of .Cent magazine titled It’s the little things, by Betty Jackson, an Honorary Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum, took us into the V&A’s archives to explore some of her favourite pieces. Guided by expert curators Claire Wilcox and Eleri Lynn, this is an intimate, breathtaking journey into a hidden sanctuary of pure emotion, creativity, and memory. Behind sliding doors, legendary 1950s and 60s masterpieces by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Dior rest like sleeping beauties, waiting to ignite our imagination and move our souls.

V&A Museum Famous Works

The Victoria and Albert Museum houses one of the world’s most prestigious fashion collections, guarding over five centuries of style and innovation. Its unparalleled archives serve as a definitive sanctuary for global couture, showcasing the absolute pinnacle of design through masterworks from icons like Christian Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, and Vivienne Westwood.

V&A Fashion Museum

‘I Love the V&A museum. It’s my favourite museum. Apart from Tate Britain of course …and Tate Modern…and the National Portrait Gallery obviously…and the one in Whitechapel where I first saw Frida Khalo’s paintings ages ago and I was so amazed I just couldn’t speak…and the other concrete one south of the river where I used to spend all day and then watch a play in the evening for 50p or something ridiculous when I was a student.

Apart from all those…it’s DEFINITELY my favourite museum.

I have met a few people who work there and they all love it too.

One of the senior curators of clothing has NEVER wanted to be anywhere else…since she was seven! That’s how special the place is…

There is an air of careful consideration in the storeroom…Almost clinical, like a hospital but without the smell…Here is a different aura… an aura of preciousness…of craftsmanship…of creativity celebrated by its custodial collection.‘

Betty Jackson

Balenciaga

Black Sack-Back Balenciaga dress

Date: 1957
Techniques: Wool
Designer: Balenciaga, Cristóbal, born 21/01/1895, died 23/03/1972
Place: Spain
Museum Number: T.234-1982

Dress Design

Balenciaga did not believe in change for change’s sake. He worked methodically from season to season on specific ideas to refine and perfect them. Throughout the 1950s he worked on the lean line known popularly as the ‘Sack’. This dress is one variation on this theme. It has a slim, semi-fitted outline with a round neck, elbow-length sleeves and a belt. This dress is made in plain weave wool. The back is draped and shaped like a cocoon. The EISA label identifies it as the product of one of Balenciaga’s Spanish outlets in Barcelona, San Sebastian or Madrid. Spanish clothes were less expensive than their Paris equivalents. They were made in less costly Spanish fabrics and business overheads in Spain were lower than in France.

Black Dress

Black Baby-Doll Balenciaga dress

Date: 1958
Techniques: Crêpe de Chine underdress, with lace overdress and satin bows
Designer: Balenciaga, Cristóbal, born 21/01/1895, died 23/03/1972
Place: Paris, France
Museum Number: T.334 1997

Babydoll Dress

In 1957 and 1958 Balenciaga produced a group of flounced lace dresses. They were known as Baby-Doll dresses. This one has a provocative, tight black crêpe de Chine underdress. You can see it clearly through the semi-transparent black lace overdress. This overdress is very wide and flared. It has short sleeves and a low waist with a gathered flounced skirt. Two giant black satin bows mark the middle of the neck and the middle of the waist. They also add to the child-like theme.

Fashion Designer

‘The great and the good are here…lovingly wrapped in tissue and hanging on the sort of hangers worthy of couture…soft, padded silk satin, with bows!…each gently rubbing shoulders with the other… Christobel Balenciaga next to Claire McCardell…Jean Muir and Christian Dior…Biba and Miss Mouse…Stella McCartney, Body Map… the lists charted on the heavy, gently sliding doors, locked like submarines against elemental decay.

There are DRAWERS of shoes, bags, gloves, scarves and hats, which when you open them take your breath away.

There are printed textiles and woven textiles and embroidered textiles from before the Spanish Armada sailed, with a delicacy and fineness of detail that defies modern times and makes you rethink your colour palette!

Everything is handled with gloves… not white ones…but PURPLE for goodness sake… How cool!

Infinite knowledge of technique, creativity, design and craft is here to be explored and to inspire. They pass on their knowledge with passion and pride and with a huge respect for what has gone before and much excitement for what is still to come.

You just have to ask…

I love the V&A…and it throws the BEST parties!’

Betty Jackson

Embroidery designs

Balenciaga embroidered flowers on white ground dress

Date: 1962
Technique: Embroidered silk
Designer Balenciaga, Cristóbal, born 21/01/1895, died 23/03/1972
Place: Paris
Museum Number: T.27-1974

Floral embroidered short evening dress: a sleeveless sheath dress of white wild silk, hand embroidered in a Chinese style.

Cocktail Dress

Dior very light green cocktail dress

Date: 1957
Technique: Organza
Designer: Christian Dior born 1905, died 1957
Museum Number: T.122-1974

‘Eau de nil’ Organza short evening dress with a draped fichu collar, trimmed with a self-coloured rose centre front and a bouffant pleated skirt.

As a schoolgirl, she always wanted to work in the textiles and fashion department and after graduating in 1979 began her career as a volunteer, sewing lace onto display boards. In 1999 she devised Fashion in Motion, and has curated the exhibitions Radical Fashion, Versace and Vivienne Westwood (2004). She is currently researching a major show on Couture for Autumn 2007.

Ultimately, this journey into the V&A archives is more than a look back at fashion history; it is a profound celebration of the human hand and heart. In these quiet, sacred storerooms, the passion of the curators meets the genius of masters like Balenciaga and Dior, keeping the soul of couture vibrantly alive. As Betty Jackson beautifully reminds us, this infinite world of inspiration is always there, waiting to move us, all we have to do is ask.

For more information on V&A Museum, visit here

To explore the V&A Fashion Museum, visit here

To explore the Ranald Mackechnie Photographies, visit here

If you enjoyed reading The Secret World of Couture: inside the unique V&A Archives, then why not read Woven; A glimpse into The V&A’s Christian Dior exhibition

Photographed by Ranald Mackechnie
Assisted by Stuart Hendry
Garments chosen by Betty Jackson
Handled by Claire Wilcox and Eleri Lynn
Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator and the V&A‘s Fashion Co-ordinator
Eleri Lynn is Assistant Curator in Department of Furniture, Textiles and Fashion and specialises in medieval and renaissance textiles and 20th century fashion.

.Cent Magazine London. Luxury Mindset