Helen Rose’s costume designs for MGM are among Hollywood’s most iconic: Grace Kelly’s gauzy pink gown from High Society, Elizabeth Taylor’s sultry cocktail number from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Lana Turner’s corselet from The Merry Widow that sparked the eponymous midcentury lingerie trend.
During a career that spanned 23 years and included more than 200 films, Rose was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning two. Though she passed away in Palm Springs in 1985, her costumes live on in the Helen Rose/Marilyn Visel collection, donated by friend Barbara Marx to the Palm Springs Historical Society.
These ensembles usually reside inside archival boxes, wrapped in tissue and stored in a climate-controlled room. But at tonight’s Hollywood Party event, the chiffon ruffles will air out, every hand-sewn sequin and bead will glimmer, and Rose’s designs will sparkle for an audience once again. Costumes worn by Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland, and Lena Horne will join those of Turner, Taylor, Kelly, and other silver-screen stars.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ALMAY
Helen Rose
Following will be the ultra-glamorous collection of red-carpet and bridal designer Gustavo Cadile, whose work pays tribute to 1940s Hollywood. The Argentine designer, who worked in Miami, Milan, and Rome before settling in New York, has dressed dozens of modern celebrities, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sofia Vergara, Gloria Estefan, Anjelica Huston, and Kim Kardashian.
“I get inspired by everything, but the beauty of women’s bodies is what really captures my attention,” Cadile shares. “My work is to illuminate the body.”
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20
Hollywood Party: Nobody Sleeps Tonight
Presented by Donna MacMillan and KHA Architects and benefiting the Palm Springs Historical Society.
Runway event featuring the archival collection of Helen Rose and new work by Gustavo Cadile.
6:30 p.m.: Cocktail reception; includes book signings with Booth Moore and Sue Cameron
8 p.m.: Fashion show
$95 Reserved , $80 General, and $35 Student.
For ticket information, visit fashionweekelpaseo.com.
THURSDAY, MARCH 21
Gustavo Cadile
Trunk Show
Located in the Reception Tent
at Fashion Week El Paseo.
11 a.m.–2 p.m.: Meet Cadile for a personal consultation as he presents his collection
for you to peruse and purchase.
Free< Admission/p>
