How Linda Evangelista and a yellow dress made fashion history
Supermodel and Galliano muse Linda Evangelista wearing the closing look, a canary yellow tulle and feather bouffant evening dress with a boned bodice from John Galliano 'Pin Up/Misia Diva' S/S 1995. Galliano considers this moment one of the first major fashion moments in his career and credits the presence and mien of Evangelista in the dress for its repute.
John Galliano was only a buzzing designer in November of 1995, having rumbled critics and the fashion community alike the year before with a stellar collection. It earned him the job as creative director of French fashion house Givenchy and put him on the map as one to watch. Linda Evangelista was one of the top supermodels at the time and a regular in major fashion publications like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Elle. She had also modeled for Galliano's aforementioned landmark collection. Both were thriving figures in fashion at the time and would find themselves intertwined by a yellow feathered dress that would make fashion history.
Evangelista peacocking for onlookers and photographers at 'Pin Up/Misia Diva'
Evangelista recalls the experience as a fun and memorable one. She spoke with Harper's Bazaar in 2017 saying "early on, I learned not to have any expectations, as you don't always get the best dress or the best look in the show, and you don't always get to open or close the show, so closing was an honor. I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful dress. I'm not even a yellow person, but wearing this was one of the most sensational things that has ever happened to me. I loved everything about it. it was sophisticated, it was flirty, it was fun. It was retro, it was modern... I also loved the show and the energy. It was a very exciting moment in fashion, and the audience was just as excited. I didn't know it was going to be like that, but when I walked out and felt that energy it was magical."
Evangelista on the cover of the January 1995 cover of Harper's Bazaar, photographed by the late Peter Lindbergh
Galliano loved her in the dress so much that he actually gave it to her, shipping it to her apartment. Evangelista recalled its monumental size. "It was tremendous, and I never knew where to put it, so it ended up in my bedroom on a mannequin." The dress became such a talking point during that season that Bazaar asked Evangelista to be on the cover of their January issue in the dress.
Evangelista ended up donating the dress to the Met Museum in 2018 due to the fear of its age making it too fragile for personal keeping and is still there today - a mere artifact that vividly recalls a bygone era and an iconic fashion moment cemented in time.
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