Still from Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais) France-Italy, 1961

New York, NY – Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Leslie Caron, Elizabeth Taylor, Jeanne Moreau -- the names themselves conjure images of goddess-like allure. Since the dawn of film one of the essential ways movie actresses have cultivated their glamour is through stylish and evocative dress on screen—costumes designed in collaborative efforts between movie stars, designers and directors who were masters of their respective crafts.

Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais) Designer: Coco Chanel Worn by: Delphine Seyrig France-Italy, 1961

Cut! Costume for the Silver Screen, on exhibition at the AXA Gallery from May 27 – August 21, 2004, presents 30 exquisite selections from one of the world’s most remarkable collections of film costumes—the Cinémathèque Française, Musée du Cinéma, Paris. Among the costumes included in the exhibition are designs by Adrian, Cecil Beaton, Irene, Pierre Cardin, Coco Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Jeanne Lanvin, Walter Plunkett and Yves Saint Laurent.

CUT! Costume for the Silver Screen was curated by Marianne de Fleury and organized by Paris-Musées from the Collection of the Cinémathèque Française, Musée du Cinéma, Paris. The AXA Gallery is sponsored by AXA Financial and its subsidiary The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Additional assistance has been provided by AXA Art Insurance Corporation.

The dresses exhibited in CUT!represent the talents of fashion designers, theatrical costume designers, and other artists who, from the earliest days of film, have contributed to this collaborative medium. Before there were moving images, magazines gave fashion designers the opportunity to display their latest creations, but only in static illustrations or photographs. Film offered the advantage of capturing clothes in motion, with the added cachet of their being worn by glamorous actresses. Many of the designs in CUT! are illustrated by film clips, showing the dresses in motion, creating a singular moment on film.

Dress and still from L'Atlantide (Jacques Feyder) Designer: Manuel Orazi Worn by: Stacia Napierkowska France, 1921

Since the early days of filmmaking, the use of fashion as an essential aspect of the mise-en-scene greatly influenced the renown and reputation of designers, just as the association of a couturier with a particular star afforded much-sought-after publicity. Films and newsreels immediately became a way to transmit the latest styles, and the chance to see movie stars in chic clothes drew women to the cinema.

Feu Mathais Pascal (Marcel L'Herbier) Designer: Jeanne Lanvin Worn by: Marcelle Pradot France, 1924

The Empire-style gown designed by Adrian for Greta Garbo in Clarence Brown’s Conquest (1937) epitomizes the ideal of a Hollywood period movie. Garbo moved effortlessly in her historical gowns and collars without detracting from the contemporary aura of Garbo.

In the early days of film, Mary Pickford was often adorned in gowns by the French couturier Jeanne Lanvin.  Among the Lanvin costumes in the exhibition is an ivory taffeta dress worn by Marcelle Pradot in Marcel L’Herbier’s The Late Matthias Pascal (1924); on seeing the robe de style, with its wide panniers and decorative appliqué embroidery, contemporary audiences would immediately recognize Lanvin’s signature.

Little Women (Mervyn LeRoy) Designer: Walter Plunkett Worn by: Elizabeth Taylor United States, 1949

The French couture houses—Dior, Saint Laurent, Chanel, Lacroix, and others, carried on the tradition in the wealth of exceptional French films made in the second half of the twentieth century. A distinctive Chanel cocktail dress appears in Alain Resnais’s Last Year in Marienbad (1961) and Karl Lagerfeld’s sexy black number with diamond-shaped cut-outs down the back lends chic in Luis Bunuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972).

Fashion and art merged in film when fashion designers, painters and photographers turned their talents to costume design. The artist Sonia Delaunay applied her geometric style of painting to clothes, cars, and other functional objects. Her avant-garde black silk satin dress with wool embroidered design on gold lamé from Marcel L’Herbier’s Le Vertige (1926) highlights the collaborative efforts of artists working in Paris in the 1920s. Likewise, the Italian Surrealist Leonor Fini contributed costumes to Fellini’s 8 ½ (1963).

Notably included in the exhibition is a dress worn by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939), created by legendary Hollywood costume designer Walter Plunkett; the black, silk dressing gown with gold sequins created by Irene for Marlene Dietrich in Kismet (1944); and the Charles LeMaire/Mary Wills design for Bette Davis as Elizabeth of England in The Virgin Queen (1955). Also included are designs for Leslie Caron in Gigi, Anne Baxter in All About Eve and Elizabeth Taylor in both Little Women and Secret Ceremony, among others.

A catalogue accompanies the exhibition. CUT! Costume for the Silver Screen by Marianne de Fleury and Donna Gheletter. (100 pgs., 7x9” with more than 30 color illustrations and photographs, distributed by The AXA Gallery, New York, New York) The book retails for $19.95 and is available at Gateway Newsstand in the Equitable Atrium, 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York.

Marianne de Fleury is the Director of the Collection of the Cinémathèque Française, Musée du Cinéma, Paris, founded by Henri Langlois. The Cinémathèque Française holds one of the most comprehensive and rare movie costume collections in the world, conserving about a thousand objects spanning from the turn of the century to the present day.

AXA Gallery presents works from all fields of the visual arts, with a special emphasis placed on exhibitions that would not otherwise have a presence in the city. The AXA Gallery is located in the atrium lobby of Equitable Tower, 787 Seventh Avenue at 51st Street, in New York City. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11am - 6pm, and Saturday, noon to 5pm. The Gallery is closed on Sundays. Admission is free.