{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O147031"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O147031/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2012FN2698/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2012FN2698/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2012FN2698","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O147031","accessionNumber":"T.3:1, 2-2008","objectType":"Skirt suit","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"With an emphasis on large shoulders and asymmetrical elements, this suit reflects the 1980s taste for so-called ‘power dressing’.  This sharply-tailored design typifies the day-time wardrobes of Helene Hayes’s wealthy and socially prominent clients such as Mrs Rupert Murdoch, Mrs Henry Ford, Mrs Gordon Getty, Mme Claude Picasso and Mme Juliette May Ray.  Many of Hayes’s clients were expatriates or travelled frequently to Paris from abroad. Helene Hayes would fit clients at the Paris atelier, or from her hotel suite in New York or Los Angeles. She would visit her best clients at their homes. Garments such as this suit were sewn by seamstresses at the back of the Paris shop.\r\n \r\nLondon-born Helene Hayes was brought up in New South Wales, Australia. She moved to Paris in the early 1960s to study sculpture. She began working in the fashion business in 1963 as a manager in the house of Jean Louis Scherrer. From the early 1980s, Helene Hayes operated her Parisian couture boutique first at 2 rue de Tournon and then at 42 Avenue Montaigne. Her son, Alexander Hayes, recollected that the family lived above the shop at 2 rue de Tournon.","physicalDescription":"With its wide shoulders and assymetrical detailing, this wool and velvet tailored ensemble reflects the taste for so-called 'power dressing' in the 1980s.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Helene, Hayes","id":"A21511"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"wool","id":"x40131"},{"text":"velvet","id":"AAT133711"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Day wear","id":"THES49000"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2012FN2698"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"010","id":"THES307703"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"010","id":"THES307703"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Skirt","id":""}],[{"text":"Jacket","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"France","id":"x28849"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1988","earliest":"1988-01-01","latest":"1988-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Alexander James Hayes, son of the designer","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Helene Hayes\r\nParis\r\nmade in France","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"garment label"}],"objectHistory":"This suit comes from the archive of the designer and was given to the Museum by her son five years after her death. Helen Hayes wore a similar design to meet Diana, Pricess of Wales when the Princess visited Paris fashion houses in 1988.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Suit, charcoal wool with black velvet trim, Helene Hayes, ca 1985, France\n\n","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Haute couture","id":"THES48861"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.3:2-2008","T.3:1-2008"],"accessionNumberNum":"3","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":2008,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Skirt","Jacket"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-25","recordCreationDate":"2008-03-10","availableToBook":true}}