Runway

Fashion Loves a Clown: Here, 24 Big-Top Looks That Prove It From Dior Haute Couture to Alexander McQueen

By Laird Borrelli-Persson
  • Christian Dior Spring 2019 Couture
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    Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
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    Christian Dior Spring 2019 couture

  • Christian Dior Spring 2019 Couture
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    Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
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    Christian Dior Spring 2019 couture

  • Moschino Spring 2019 Menswear
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    Photo: Elizabeth Lippman / Indigital,tv
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    Moschino Spring 2019 menswear

  • Viktor Rolf Fall 2018 couture
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    Photo: Kim WestonArnold / Indigital.tv
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    Viktor & Rolf Fall 2018 couture

  • Vivienne Westwood Spring 2018 Menswear
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    Photo: Indigital.tv
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    Vivienne Westwood Spring 2018 menswear

  • Undercover Spring 2016
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    Photo: Kim Weston Arnold /Indigitalimages.com
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    Undercover Spring 2016

  • Schiaparelli Fall 2016 Couture
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    Photo: Yannis Vlamos / Indigital.tv
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    Schiaparelli Fall 2016 couture

  • Schiaparelli Fall 2016 Couture
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    Photo: Yannis Vlamos / Indigital.tv
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    Schiaparelli Fall 2016 couture

  • Christian Dior Fall 2011 Couture
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    Photo: Yannis Vlamos / GoRunway.com
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    Christian Dior Fall 2011 couture

  • Miu MIu Spring 2008
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    Photo: Marcio Madeira
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    Miu Miu Spring 2008

  • Christian Dior Fall 2007 Couture
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    Photo: Getty Images
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    Christian Dior Fall 2007 Couture

  • Gareth Pugh Fall 2006
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    Photo: Marcio Madeira
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    Gareth Pugh Fall 2006

  • Alexander McQueen Fall 2001
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    Photo: JB Villareal / Shoot Digital
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    Alexander McQueen Fall 2001

  • Vivienne Westwood Fall 1994
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    Photo: Condé Nast Archive
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    Vivienne Westwood Fall 1994

  • threesies clowns
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    Photographed by Deborah Turbeville, Vogue, May 1985
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    Rosanna (right) in Chanel, 1985

  • Sheena Easton 1983
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    Photo: Frank Carroll / NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
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    Sheena Easton, 1983

  • Twiggy in The Boy Friend 1971
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    Photo: Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection / Getty Images
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    Twiggy in The Boy Friend, 1971

  • threesies clowns
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    Photo: Marc Hispard / Condé Nast Archive
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    Susan Forristal in Patou, 1968

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    Photo: George Hoyningen-Huene / RDA / Getty Images
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    Coco Chanel, 1937

  • Carole Lombard circa 1937
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    Photo: Everett Collection
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    Carole Lombard in Travis Banton, c. 1936

  • Katharine Hepburn in Sylvia Scarlett 1935
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    Photo: Everett
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    Katharine Hepburn in Sylvia Scarlett, 1935

  • threesies clowns
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    Photo: Lipnitzki / Roger Viollet Collection / Getty Images
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    Lanvin, 1934

  • threesies clowns
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    Photo: ullstein bild / ullstein bild via Getty Images
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    Lola Tänzerin beim Tanz, 1919

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    Photo: Apic / Getty Images
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    Sarah Bernhardt as Pierrot, photographed by Nader, 1883

Christian Lacroix is Laird Borrelli-Persson’s fashion raison d’etre; the way he combined romance and historicism set her on the path she is following today. Borrelli-Persson studied literature at Boston College, spending her junior year abroad at Oxford, where she added some art history. After graduation she moved to New York to intern ... Read More
TopicsChristian DiorMaria Grazia Chiuri