Mariano Fortuny's Delphos Robe: Some Possible Methods of Pleating and the Permanence of the Pleats

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate some methods of pleating that Fortuny might have used in creating the fabric for the Delphos Robe and to test the permanence of pleats in silk fabric. Fortuny preferred using silk fabric from the Orient and was aware of Japanese art and craft techniques. Several Japanese shibori (dye resist) techniques create folds of pleats in fabric that are similar to the pleats in the Delphos Robe. In particular, the shibori pole-wrapping technique would have been an attractive alternative to more time-consuming hand pleating methods. Although some historians claim that the pleats of the Delphos Robe were permanent, they were not. Inspection of Delphos gowns in a museum collection showed loss of pleating in areas affected by moisture and pressure. In laboratory experimentation it was determined that pleats in silk fabric were permanent to dry cleaning but not to wet cleaning or moisture and pressure from wear.