V&A
Royal Blue Silk Taffeta Cropped Balloon Jacket
2000s · 2000s · Italian
Designer
Prada
Production
ready-to-wear
Material
silk taffeta
Culture
Italian
Movement
Indie Sleaze
Influences
Victorian peplum silhouette · 1980s power dressing volume
A structured cropped jacket in lustrous royal blue silk taffeta featuring a fitted bodice with gathered fabric at the center front creating dimensional texture. The garment has a pronounced peplum silhouette with knife-pleated sections that flare dramatically from the waist. The sleeves appear to be three-quarter length with gathered volume at the shoulders. The construction shows precise tailoring typical of luxury fashion houses, with the taffeta's crisp hand allowing for sharp pleating and structured shaping. The deep blue color has an iridescent quality characteristic of high-quality silk taffeta. This piece exemplifies early 2000s experimental silhouettes that played with proportion and volume.
top/t-shirt/sweatshirtballooncollarlessabove-the-hip
Connected To
66%
Influences·1980s power dressing volume
SHARED20 years · cross-culture · cross-category
These two pieces reveal how 1980s volume migrated from boardroom to boudoir across two decades. The cream turtleneck's chunky cable knit creates sculptural bulk through texture — those thick, rope-like patterns building architectural weight around the torso — while the royal blue jacket achieves the same dramatic silhouette through pure air, its balloon sleeves and cropped peplum trapping space like a silk parachute.
Echoes Across Time
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