Kerry Taylor Auctions with Sotheby's Presents: `FASHION AS ART’ Passion for Fashion Auction, March 17th 2011

Fashion and art are often inextricably linked. Chanel designed for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes in the 1920s, Schiaparelli collaborated with Salvador Dali in the 1930s. During the 20^th century great designers have been influenced by great art and vice versa. One of the most desirable, most iconic fashion/art related garments ever to be made is the Yves Saint Laurent 1965 `Mondrian Collection’ gown. It made such an impact at the time that it spawned thousands of cheap, lookalike copies. The sharp, clean modern lines of this Collection were hugely influential at the time and the iconic Mondrian dress has become synonymous of all that was young, 'cool' and modern during the 'Swinging Sixties'. To find a couture original is rare; to find one in silk more rare still. Yves Saint Laurent told its collector Sandy Schreier that it was one of only two silk examples ever to be made (the other one he gifted to the Victoria & Albert museum). When interviewed about the collection in 1965 Saint Laurent stated:

I suddenly realised that dresses should no longer be composed of lines, but of colours. I realised that we had to stop conceiving of a garment as sculpture and that on the contrary, we had to view it as mobile. I realised that fashion had been rigid up till then, and that we now have to make it move...I'm convinced that we're on the eve of a an upheaval in our lifestyle as important as the one introduced by the Art Deco exhibition (in 1925). Down with the Ritz, down with the moon, up with the street!...

Mondrian is purity and one can go no further in purity in painting. This is a purity that joins with that of the Bauhaus. The masterpiece of the twentieth century is a Mondrian.

The owner of the Mondrian gown is as interesting as the dress itself. Sandy Schreier, based Midwestern USA, began collecting as a young girl. Her father was head furrier at a major department store called Russeks in Detroit and she often accompanied him at the weekend, roaming the floors filled with jewels and fashion. Whilst she sat contentedly flicking through the latest issue of Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar she came into contact with the rich automobile executive’s wives coming in and out to preview couture collections, but who had purchased their couture gowns in Paris prior to World War II. Wishing to promote her love of fashion they often bestowed on her their Schiaparellis and Mainbochers, often never worn. They probably intended her to take them home and dress up. However, Sandy regarded them as works of art to be cherished and preserved. A collector was born!  By the time she went to college and got married, she owned hundreds of pieces of French couture. She travelled abroad, met and modelled for Vidal Sasoon (who says of her ‘she has a great eye’) and returned home sporting a new hair cut and a Mary Quant dress. During the 1960s she not only collected fashion and accessories but began designing herself. Her big break came with a commission designing accessories for the Henri Bendel store. She went on to design accessories for the young Yves Saint Laurent’s first ready to wear collections and fashion shows in the USA. 

Sandy Schreier’s collection which began with a few hundred dresses is now in the tens of thousands including French couture, British and American fashion, accessories, photograph and works on paper dating from the late 19^th century to the present. Her pieces have graced and enhanced major couture exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Louvre, the Hermitage and most recently the major Balenciaga retrospective exhibitions at the Queen Sophia Spanish Institute in New York and the de Young museum in San Francisco.

Sandy Schreier has always collected things that personally appealed to her – usually strong signature pieces. She has collected first and foremost for love – being guided by her knowledge of and passion for the subject. The late Richard Martin (former head of Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute) said of her collection, “It’s the broadest and deepest of any private collection in the world”. Fashion designers, historians and celebrities have all made their way to Sandy’s home to pay homage. Her collection has been the focus of her entire career, writing books and articles on fashion and film costuming, making regular TV appearances (including Oprah) and becoming a renowned public speaker.

This is the first piece Sandy has ever decided to part with and Kerry Taylor Auctions is proud to be entrusted with such an important piece.

The 300 lot auction also includes the dress worn by Kate Middleton at the St Andrew's University charity fashion show, designed by Charlotte Todd, 2002, estimate £8000-12,000.

Sale: March 17^that 2pm
Exhibition: March 16^th 9am – 5pm, March 17^th 9am-11am

Contact for more information and images:

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Tel: 00 44 (0) 208 676 4600

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Printed catalogue available: £10 in the gallery, £12 inc postage UK; £15 inc postage Europe; £18 inc postage rest of the world