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1960s
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Space Age

Designers imagined the future through both shape and assembly. Engineered-looking cloth and Rabanne’s linked discs reveal different ways to make a garment appear technological.

Geometric constructionFuturistic accessoriesWhite, silver and modern materials

About Space Age

Space Age fashion imagined the body in a technological future through crisp geometry, short hemlines and unusual accessories. André Courrèges and Pierre Cardin could make traditional cloth look engineered; futuristic shape did not require synthetic fabric. Paco Rabanne offered another route. His 1966 debut, Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials, included plastic discs linked with metal rings in place of conventional sewn cloth. White and silver were familiar signatures, but geometry and construction mattered more than any single color.

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V&A: An introduction to 1960s fashionFIT Fashion History Timeline: 1960–1969The Metropolitan Museum of Art — DressPhiladelphia Museum of Art: Paco Rabanne dress, 1966
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