Fashion icon Jacqueline de Ribes showcased in an exhibit at the Met

From November 19 to February 21, 2016, the Metropolitan Museum of New York will pay tribute to countess Jacqueline de Ribes, one of the biggest fashion icons of the 20th century, in an exhibit showcasing around 60 ready-to-wear and haute couture outfits. The ensemble of pieces from the personal archives of the French icon includes items dating from 1959 to the present.

Born in 1929 in Paris, Jacqueline de Ribes was considered the ultimate incarnation of the Parisian woman. Married at 19, the de Ribes family traditions stopped her from having a real career. She managed nevertheless to work in theater and to express herself in fashion. In 1956, she was nominated for inclusion on Eleanor Lambert's Best-Dressed List, which annually celebrated the most elegant women. Jacqueline de Ribes made the list in 1962.

Alongside the many elegant outfits belonging to de Ribes by Giorgio Armani, Pierre Balmain, Roberto Cavalli, John Galliano, Madame Grès (Alix Barton), Valentino Garavani, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Norma Kamali, Guy Laroche, Ralph Lauren, Ralph Rucci and Yves Saint Laurent, visitors will also be able to admire pieces designed by Jacqueline de Ribes herself. The aristocrat had even launched her own fashion brand that she presided from 1982 to 1995.

A number of photographs taken by the likes of Slim Aarons, Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Cecil Beaton, Robert Doisneau, Horst, Jean Baptiste Mondino, Irving Penn, Francesco Scavullo, Victor Skebneski and Juergen Teller will also be displayed.

Thanks to a large number of supporting documentation, the exhibit will also retrace her professional career as theater impresario, television producer, interior architect and charity event organizer.

"Jacqueline de Ribes: The Art of Style" is on show from November 19 to February 21 at the Metropolitan Museum of New York.