Pearl dress

Breaking  etiquette

This dress is from Karen Walker's Etiquette summer collection and was presented at Australian Fashion Week in 2000. Her design, which features a slashed back, subtly subverts the traditional respectability of little black dress and string of pearls. The broken string of pearls print, which also featured on t-shirts, was created by Katie Lockhart and Mikhail Gherman, Karen Walker’s creative director.

An icon in the making

Karen Walker's Pearl dress was chosen by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney to represent one of the year’s most influential styles. It was exhibited at the Powerhouse alongside designs by Stella McCartney, Galliano and Versace.