Ribbon Dress

This dress comes from Kim Jones' personal archive of Helmut Lang, reflecting his deep admiration for the designer known for his precise, clean aesthetic, impeccable tailoring and muted color palettes. Helmut Lang was one of the most influential designers of the late 1990s and early 2000s, shaping the era's shift towards ultra minimalist and utilitarian fashion.

This lot originates from Helmut Lang's Spring/Summer 1998 show in Paris, a collection that was predominantly presented in black and white, with subtle touches of blue. The show was a definitive display of Lang's mastery of structure and fluidity, marking an evolution towards hyper-minimalist and modern sophistication.

One of the most iconic pieces from the collection, this ribbon dress exemplifies Lang's ability to transform fabric into sculpture. Constructed in an origami-like manner from narrow strips of fabric, it elegantly wraps around the body, creating a play on movement and structure of the model's figure beneath. This dress remains one of Lang's most celebrated designs, later inspiring the rise of the bondage-style dress, which became an omnipresent trend in the years that followed.

To see a photograph of the original dress on the runway, click here.