Emanuel Ungaro Haute Couture Paisley-Beaded Velvet Cocktail Ensemble (AW 1991)

This has been well-preserved. Any imperfections are negligible and do not detract from the item's overall appearance or functionality.

Emanuel Ungaro was born in Aix-en-Provence in 1933 to an Italian tailor father who had fled fascist Italy. He moved to Paris at 22, trained at Balenciaga for three years, then briefly at Courrèges, before founding his own house in 1965. The Balenciaga training gave him an exceptional technical foundation, though he described his own work as “New Baroque”. His clothes were known for their exuberant mixing of prints, combining florals, stripes, geometrics and paisleys, as well as diagonally draped skirts and wide shoulders with gigot sleeves. He worked with textile designer Sonia Knapp, who created his prints throughout his tenure. Giambattista Valli served as creative director for the ready-to-wear line from 1998 to 2004. Ungaro stepped back from ready-to-wear in 2001 and officially retired in 2005, selling the label. The house went through a succession of creative directors after the sale, including Peter Dundas.

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• Haute couture piece
• The jacket was presented on the Autumn/Winter 1991-92 haute couture runway