Swing coat designed by Jacques Fath, ca. 1950. Courtesy MUDE - Museu do Design e da Moda, all rights reserved.

The coat is made in wool gingham fabric, in the colours of black and white. It’s a typical example of the kind of outerwear that was fashionable during the 1950s, with its abundance of fabric and volume, which is a feature of the iconic silhouettes of those years. It was designed by the Parisian couturier Jacques Fath in the 1950s.

The long coat is open at the front and presents no buttons, except for two button-holes on the shawl collar, which is unfolded to show the precious black lining. The cut of the shoulders is slightly low and the wide sleeves end with black cuffs, made of the same fabric of the collar. The coat is bell shaped and its volume is given by the wide folds that go from the bust to the bottom hemline.

Jacques Fath was, along with Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain, one of the couturiers who reinstituted the epitomized idea of feminine beauty after the end of World War II, characteristically represented by the New Look introduced by Dior in 1947. Heir of a creative family, he was a self-taught designer who got his knowledge of the history of costume in museums and books. He opened the ‘House of Fath’ in 1937, where later he employed as his assistants Hubert de Givenchy, Guy Laroche and Valentino Garavani. After his first successes in 1940, he developed strong relationships with many illustrious clients, including Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner, Evita Perón and Rita Hayworth, who chose a dress created by him for her wedding to Prince Aly Khan. His house closed in 1957, three years after the death of the couturier.

The object is part of MUDE – Museu do Design e da Moda archive. Discover more on the Europeana fashion portal.