It was December of 2013—and as temperatures dropped around Dallas, excitement was on the rise, because one of the top design houses was headed to Fair Park for a star-studded fête. The buzz about town was like no other, and for those with the golden ticket to attend, it was one of the most coveted invitations in the city.
The Chanel Métiers d’Art pre-fall show in 2013 re-affirmed Dallas as a global fashion hub, as previous Métiers d’Art extravaganzas were held in Scotland, Venice, Paris and more. And then there was Dallas. Not New York, not Los Angeles, but Dallas.
The evening beckoned the likes of fashion legends like the late Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour, the late André Leon Talley, Nina Garcia, supermodel Erin Wasson, and even Hollywood celebs Lily Collins and Kristen Stewart. It was as memorable as it was fanciful, and it was thought that an affair like this would never happen again for Dallas–until now.
Perhaps, not as exorbitant or as flashy, but just as historically relevant, will be the Dallas arrival of fashion house Pierre Cardin, with its first-ever “Heritage Collection” on display at Martini Consignment, along with an intimate fashion show in Fair Park that will nationally summon collectors, museum curators, tastemakers, and purveyors to the city from now until November 21. Leading the efforts is one of Dallas’ most sought after fashion historians and vintage experts Ken Weber, Co-Owner of Martini Consignment.
“I was fortunate enough to have met the Pierre Cardin team right after [the pandemic], when they were in town for a movie screening. I talked to them about honoring them at Fashion Group International’s Night of Stars…and we’ve continued the relationship over the years,” Weber said. “They then called me out of the blue and said, ‘Hey, we’re wanting to get our name back out there again, and start selling some of the archives, and we would love for you to have the exclusive to the archives.’ They’re calling [it] the Heritage Collection.”
It wasn’t long after this conversation that Weber was flying solo to Paris (this past April) to get a first-hand look at the archived collections, which housed designer pieces dating as early as 1968 and going all the way to 2010. Gleefully, he rummaged through 22,000 pieces of Pierre Cardin apparel, to carefully select the 500-ish designs that would make its way back to the Big D.
“I was on a time constraint and I knew my time was limited,” Weber recalled. “I only had two days and I was ready to jump in and start shopping. I went through 22,000 pieces and mostly everything was bagged. They told me to ‘just pull.’ It was fast and furious and I was just grabbing anything that had cool textures or colors. If I saw hoops or weird protrusions or sculptures, I was grabbing it.”
Fast forward to today, and Weber is still beaming like it’s Christmas. As boxes piled high with the “Heritage Collection” continue to arrive in the wake of the upcoming reveal, the garments he pre-selected in Paris, still continue to take his breath away.
“Opening those boxes and seeing it in person, and putting it on a hanger—the hoops and the structure— and having it come to life, has really been thrilling. There’s a box coming tomorrow and I’m dying,” Weber said enthusiastically. “Everything has to be inventoried, of course. And then I do my own research, because we like to put the original runway photos with the garments and then everything gets photographed with descriptions, and uploaded to the website. So it’s all ready to launch [and] a lot of work.”
The first-ever Pierre Cardin “Heritage Collection” will launch to the general public on November 20th, and will be available to shop online exclusively at Martini Consignment’s website, and in store, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Personally hand-selected by Weber, pieces will range from one-of-a-kind Pierre Cardin originals to demi-couture garments, to haute couture.
Pierre Cardin was as much as an innovator as he was a visionary, with the eponymous label being an earlier adopter of futuristic fashion. Its Space Age aesthetic, adorned with bold, geometric shapes, and reimagined silhouettes, was one of the more popular eras for the label, which rose to fame in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Weber hints that some of these styles (in both men’s and women’s), just may make an appearance at the Dallas showcase. Of course, with everything being bigger in Texas, he’s pulled some over-the-top exaggerated fashions—enough to appease the sophisticated Dallasite—and a crop of artistically composed pieces that are more of a family heirloom, to which one might look (not touch), but simply admire, and adore.
“There was a small group of designers that ventured forward into this Space Age movement, and he was definitely at the front of that line,” Weber said. “He maintained that over the years with both wearability, but also fantasy. These pieces [in the Heritage Collection] were never mass produced. To be able to find a Pierre Cardin piece on this level, could not really happen until now.”
According to Weber, collectors and enthusiasts will be flying in from New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles to get dibs on this collection—and just as sure as Lagerfeld was about Dallas in 2013, and Dior for its 2019 Dallas exhibition—the same bodes from the Pierre Cardin team, that Dallas is the worthy mecca of this Heritage Collection first-reveal honor.
And while word is mum on how to snag an invite to this highly-anticipated show, the runway spectacular is set to take place at the Hall of State in Fair Park on November 20. Produced by Pierre Cardin CEO and Artistic Director Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin, and also organized by Jan Strimple, the evening will proudly showcase the student winners of the 13th edition of the Pierre Cardin Global Fashion Competition, selections from the latest Cardin couture collection, fashion from the vintage Heritage Collection, and a special runway appearance by iconic model Alva Chinn—marking her first time walking for Cardin, over the stint of her celebrated career.
Items from the Cardin collection will be on sale exclusively online and in-person beginning at 10:00 a.m., November 20 through Martini Consignment.
“All of this is an incredible honor, and…for some reason they chose me,” Weber said humbly. “Dallas is not New York and we’re not L.A. as far as the fashion scene, but we’re definitely a fashion powerhouse. So it’s thrilling and incredibly exciting to launch this here.”
