10/09/2026
The moment when fashion history steps off the page and into reality. ✨
After introducing this extraordinary ESCADA creation by Margaretha Ley – first in its entirety, then through its intricate details and construction – it is time to open the archive.
The original ESCADA look book, Edition 23: Autumn/Winter 1990, records the collection as it was presented at the time.
First, Yasmeen Ghauri appears wearing the very jacket from this ensemble – followed by the surviving piece itself.
The gown shown next is a different version of the same design, presented by Claudia Schiffer. This is followed by the gown from my ensemble – the magnificent black velvet and floral gold brocade version.
For me, this is one of the great pleasures of collecting historic fashion: seeing an image from a period publication and then encountering the garment itself, preserved decades later.
Margaretha Ley’s ESCADA at its most opulent – velvet, brocade, soutache embroidery, rhinestones and extraordinary construction, capturing the maximalist spirit of the turn of the 1990s.
And as the look book closes, so does this chapter of the pieces’ journey at Oh! Jackie.
I am delighted that these exceptional garments will now become part of a German fashion museum’s collection, where their craftsmanship, provenance and place in fashion history can be preserved and appreciated for generations to come. 🖤