Bay Area-designed gown lives at De Young Museum
Bay Area-designed gown lives at De Young Museum
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco now has another addition to its permanent collection of costumes and textile arts. The dress, which was designed in the Bay Area by designer, Verrieres Sako, is among more than 14,000 works in a collection which spans nearly three millennia and represents cultures from 125 countries.
SAN FRANCISCO - The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco now has another addition to its permanent collection of costumes and textile arts.
The gown, which was designed in the Bay Area by designer, Verrieres Sako, is among more than 14,000 works in a collection which spans nearly three millennia and represents cultures from 125 countries.
The dress that was accepted has a unique story.
It was designed for a client who was attending President Obama’s 2008 inauguration ball. However, designer Stephanie Verrieres says it just didn’t quite fit the look they wanted.
"We just decided it was too pretty," Verrieres said. "It was just the wrong dress for the wrong moment."
Luckily, she had another one of her gowns with her and her client happily went to the ball, while the original dress went back to San Francisco.
It turns out it was destined for another event.
As she was landing back home, Verrieres said she got a call from another client who needed a dress for the San Francisco Ballet Gala.
photo courtesy of Stephanie Verrieres
"I went right from the airport to her," Verrieres remembered. "She went off like Cinderella."
She said a photo of her client headed to the gala ended up on the front page of the Chronicle Style page and was voted best dressed.
It is a moment in what has been an adventure for Verrieres and her design partner, Kimie Sako.
The two met back in 2004 at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Verrieres describes them as the loners at the back of the class who, by default, ended up working together on a project.
Turns out that was meant to be.
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Verrieres
"We had amazing synergy," said Verrieres.
The two created gowns using what they call fabric manipulation that requires numerous yards of fabric, hours upon hours of work, hand pulling the fabric.
It is all intentional.
"There is a method to the madness," Verrieres said.
Those gowns have found their way to the cover of magazines like In Style and Vogue and to red carpet events. It is a story of fashion in the Bay Area that the museum's curator, Laura Camerlengo says is important to tell.
"I think there's a tremendous amount of local talent. We see it both in fashion and in the broader art community," Camerlengo said.
She told KTVU the De Young open celebrates and highlights the work of local artists and believes "its up to us as a community to come together to really celebrate those creatives and support them."
The gown and its story are highlighted in the October issue of the Fine Arts Magazine.
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco include both the De Young Museum and the Legion of Honor.