The Souper Dress, American paper dress, 1967 (cropped)

Paper clothing describes garments and accessories made from paper or paper substitutes. The earliest known paper clothing was made by Japanese craftspeople in the 10th century BCE, usually from

washi is traditional Japanese paper. The term is used to describe paper that uses local fiber, processed by hand and made in the traditional manner. ''Washi'' is made using fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (''E ...

paper, and called ''kamiko''. ''Kamiko'' became a traditional Japanese craft of

Shiroishi, Miyagi is a Cities of Japan, city in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 33,330 and a population density of 120 persons per km2 in 14,242 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Shiroishi is in southern Miy ...

, carried out to a very high standard and skill during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

. The practice began to die out in the late 19th century, before being revived in the mid-20th century. In the early 20th century, German and Austrian manufacturers began producing "ersatz" paper cloth and clothing in response to wool shortages caused by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. While there was a brief period of interest in paper suits and garments during the early 1920s, this did not catch on as despite paper's economic advantages, traditional woven cloth was widely preferred. However, some fancy dress costumes, hats, and fashionable accessories were made from

crêpe paper Crêpe paper is tissue paper that has been coated with sizing (a glue-like substance). It can then be creased in a way similar to party streamers to create gathers, giving it a crinkly texture like that of crêpe. This creasing process is called ...

during the early 20th century and in response to resource shortages before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In the late 1950s, manufacturers of disposable paper goods such as the Scott Paper Company developed

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell w ...

-based bonded fiber textiles, which were intended to be used for laboratory and medical garments. Although these textiles are not true paper, they are widely known and marketed as being equivalent to paper. In 1966, Scott offered two paper dresses as a promotional giveaway to accompany a range of disposable tableware, which escalated into a widespread craze for paper dresses and garments that lasted until 1969. The paper dress craze saw many artists and fashion designers creating or inspiring paper garments, including

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

Ossie Clark Raymond "Ossie" Clark (9 June 1942 – 6 August 1996) was a British fashion designer who was a major figure in the Swinging Sixties scene in London and the fashion industry in that era. Clark is now renowned for his vintage designs by present- ...

, and

Bonnie Cashin Bonnie Cashin (September 28, 1908 – February 3, 2000) was an American fashion designer. Considered a pioneer in the design of American sportswear, she created innovative, uncomplicated clothing that catered to the modern, independent woman beginn ...

. At its height, one American manufacturer produced up to 80,000 dresses in a week. During the

1968 United States presidential election The 1968 United States presidential election was the 46th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1968. The Republican nominee, former vice president Richard Nixon, defeated the Democratic nominee, incumbent vice preside ...

campaigns, most of the candidates had paper dresses printed to support their campaigns. In 1969, the paper dress craze rapidly died out, mainly fuelled by changes in fashion but also by increasing awareness of the issues with disposable consumer goods. Functional single-use paper clothing for protective, medical, and/or traveling needs remained commercially viable. In the 1990s, paper was revisited as a fashion material as part of a throwback to the '60s, with designers such as Sarah Caplan and

Hussein Chalayan Hussein Chalayan, (; tr, Hüseyin Çağlayan ; born 12 August 1970) is a British-Cypriot fashion designer. He has won the British Designer of the Year twice (in 1999 and 2000) and was awarded the MBE in 2006. Chalayan is currently teaching ...

becoming known for their work in paper or non-woven paper substitutes such as

Tyvek Tyvek () is a brand of synthetic flashspun high-density polyethylene fibers. The name "Tyvek" is a registered trademark of the American multinational chemical company DuPont, which discovered and commercialized Tyvek in the late 1950s and early ...

. A significant collection of paper fashion was built in the first decade of the 21st century by the ATOPOS cultural foundation in Athens. In the form of an internationally traveling museum and art gallery exhibition, it has raised awareness of the innovation of paper and paper-substitutes as a fashion and wearable art material over the last millennium.

History of paper clothing (pre-1965)

Japan

Paper in Japan was first created by Buddhist monks. The first paper garments were created by the monks for priests to wear as undergarments and robes. As early as 910 CE, monks were recycling their paper sutras (texts) into garments, which began a lasting tradition. Both Japanese farmers and the upper classes wore paper garments, not just out of necessity, but also for worship purposes, and as an aesthetic preference. These paper garments were called ''kamiko'', a contraction of the Japanese word ''Kamikokoromo'' which translates as paper dress. Paper clothing was worn in Japan during the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

(1192-1333), and by the 17th century, ''

'' had become the most widely used paper not just for texts and images, but also for architectural screens, furnishing, and garments. The

(1603-1868) saw ''kamiko'' reach its most widespread use, along with many other options where a paper textile was substituted for leather or cloth. At this time, paper attire became a desirable and fashionable status symbol. It also gained a key role in the

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

theatre, where ''kamiko'' became the traditional costume for ''

wagoto , or ''soft style'', is a style of kabuki acting that emphasizes realistic speech and gestures. Wagoto actors typically do not employ the exaggerated makeup and costuming common to the more exaggerated '' aragoto'' (''rough'') style. Wagoto was ...

'' actors who wore it to show that their characters were fallible and physically weak as well as in financial straits. ''Kamiko'' costumes could also denote an overly fashionable individual or a ''nimaime'' (a handsome male character). The ''nimaimes paper costumes were often decorated with a calligraphy pattern called ''fumi-hogo'' (literally: "letters-wastepaper"), to suggest that due to financial pressure, he had had to make his kimono out of old love-letters. One of the most significant areas of ''washi'' and ''kamiko'' manufacture was

, which, for over four centuries was synonymous with sophisticated papermaking technology, including a form of embossed paper known as ''takuhon-shi''. During the Edo period, ''washi'' was one of the "Three Whites of Shiroshi" (the other two were kudzu and umen

noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, In ...

s). The industry was protected by the

Katakura clan The is a Japanese family which claims its descent from Fujiwara no Toshihito by way of Katō Kagekado. The family entered Mutsu Province in the 14th century as subordinates of the Ōsaki clan. However, in 1532, they became retainers of the Da ...

, the Lords of

Shiroishi Castle is a flatland-style Japanese castle in what is now the city of Shiroishi, Miyagi. During the Edo period, it was the castle of the Katakura clan, who were hereditary retainers of the Date clan of Sendai Domain. During the Boshin War, it was also t ...

, whose patronage enabled ''washi'' production to flourish. The

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

and the Imperial Court were presented with ''washi'' and ''kamiko'' as state gifts from the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date family was founded ...

. From the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

(1868-1912) onwards, ''washi'' and ''kamiko'' were less in demand, and the skills and techniques almost became lost. In the 1920s and 1930s, some Shiroishi citizens asked elderly craftspeople who had been born in the Edo period to teach them the skills and techniques, and in 1940, Nobumitsu Katakura, the lord of Shiroishi Castle, founded the Oshu Shiroishi Kyodo Kogei Kenkujo (Oshu Shiroishi local crafts research institute) in liaison with Chutaro Sato, a local kimono seller, and artisan paper-maker Tadao Endo. The intention was to revive ''kamiko'', ''shifu'' (woven paper-fibre) and ''washi'' production skills through research and surveys of Shiroishi's history and traditions. By 2017 the future of ''kamiko'' was once again in jeopardy; and in 2020, there were only four people in the city who still made ''kamiko'' and the specific ''washi'', although another group of locals have started learning the skills from the original revivalists. In Japan, ''washi'' is usually made using

kōzo The paper mulberry (''Broussonetia papyrifera'', syn. ''Morus papyrifera'' L.) is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Asia,mitsumata, or

ganpi Gampi or Ganpi are a group of Japanese shrubs, members of the genus ''Wikstroemia'', some of which have been used for making paper since the 8th century. It is used to make the high quality washi paper, as are kōzo and mitsumata trees. Vario ...

. Kōzo is typically used, as unlike ganpi, it can be cultivated, and unlike mitsumata, it has long, narrow trunks and a rhizomatic structure creating long fibres that are easy to farm, harvest, and process. The mulberry paper is then kneaded to give it suppleness and flexibility, and treated with various plant-based substances such as ''konnyaku'', a

konjac Konjac (or konjak, ) is a common name of the East and Southeast Asian plant ''Amorphophallus konjac'' ( syn. ''A. rivieri''), which has an edible corm (bulbo-tuber). It is also known as konjaku, konnyaku potato, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, sn ...

-based starch used since the 18th century, which creates water-resistance and prevents the surface of the paper from

pilling Pilling is a village and civil parish within the Wyre borough of Lancashire, England. It is north-northeast of Poulton-le-Fylde, south-southwest of Lancaster and northwest of Preston, in a part of the Fylde known as Over Wyre. The ci ...

. Other agents used are agar, fermented

persimmon The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus '' Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-per ...

tannin (''kakishibu'' or ''kaki'') or various seed and nut oils (including

perilla ''Perilla'' is a genus consisting of one major Asiatic crop species ''Perilla frutescens'' and a few wild species in nature belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae. The genus encompasses several distinct varieties of Asian herb, seed, and veget ...

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

, and poppy seed) that can improve the water- or bacteria-resistance of the end product, or strengthen the ''washi''. The end result was paper fabric that could be cut, stitched and hand-laundered like normal cloth; and could even be used for fireman's uniforms. ''Kaki'', when combined with starch and oil, makes ''washi'' that can be used for raincoats and umbrellas. The persimmon juice turns the paper brown, producing an alternative shade to white ''kamiko'', which can also be printed with woodblocks to create patterns and color. An alternative method of paper cloth production is ''shifu'', a woven fabric made using spun ''washi'' yarn. ''Shifu'' was developed in sixteenth century Japan, and was used by the

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

to make ceremonial clothes. In the early 21st century, white ''kamiko'' continues to be made specifically for participants to wear during the annual Buddhist rituals at

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Japan. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year 752 CE. The temple has undergo ...

, an important Buddhist temple in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

America and Europe

In France in 1907, a thread made from paper was developed that was reported as being unshrinkable, damp-proof, fire-proof and two-thirds cheaper than cotton. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' article announcing this was headlined "Paper Dresses Soon!" although this did not immediately happen.

(1914-1918) caused severe fabric shortages, especially of wool, and ready-to-wear suits made from spun and woven paper were developed in Germany and Austria in response. By 1920, Italy, England and Turkey were all noted as having taken an interest in the new paper garments, with '' The Washington Evening Star'' reporting that in London, a German-made paper suit cost the equivalent of 46 cents to 2 dollars. The paper commented that an American client could buy a new paper suit each week of the year, and still spend less than if they purchased a single British woollen suit. Prior to April 1917, when the United States entered the war against Germany, the American press regularly reported on how German inventiveness had created substitutes ("ersatz") for many raw materials, admiringly commenting on how German-made spun paper twine could be not only woven into

doilies A doily (also doiley, doilie, doyly, doyley) is an ornamental mat, typically made of paper or fabric, and variously used for protecting surfaces or binding flowers, in food service presentation, or as a head covering or clothing ornamentatio ...

, but also functional damp-resistant cloths that replaced sackcloth and could be used to make corsets, aprons, work garments, and even parts of military uniforms. In 1917, a paper raincoat was patented in the United States. Paper clothes, ca 1921 (MOHAI 5089) (cropped)

Paper clothes, ca 1921 (MOHAI 5089) (cropped)

After the war, in September 1920, the

Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce : The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes United States exports of nonagricultural U.S. services and goods. Duties The ITA's stated goals are to # Provide practical info ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

displayed a group of Austrian paper suits and other merchandise, before touring them around the U.S. This was intended to show American manufacturers that they had competition when it came to cheap clothing being manufactured elsewhere, and give them the opportunity to examine the paper clothing first-hand. However, trade publications commented disparagingly on the "coarse and crude" textiles and relatively few people were enthusiastic for paper clothing even though it could be washed and was cheap. One Philadelphia businessman wore a brown paper suit, paper necktie and shirt-collar, which cost him 89 cents altogether, as opposed to over 30 dollars for a wool suit. Paper bathing costumes were even available by 1921, with one Chicago manufacturer making a $1.50 costume that resisted rough treatment and water wear, and another Chicago establishment creating "straw" and "cloth" hats made from paper, even their feather trimmings. By the mid-1920s, American prosperity had reached such heights that most people could afford cloth and wool, and even the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 did not reawaken enthusiasm for paper garments. However, separate shirt-fronts, shirt-collars and cuffs could be made from paper, card, or plastics such as

celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common contemporary ...

to give a clean, crisp starched appearance. Costume, fancy dress (AM 2002

Crêpe paper Crêpe paper is tissue paper that has been coated with sizing (a glue-like substance). It can then be creased in a way similar to party streamers to create gathers, giving it a crinkly texture like that of crêpe. This creasing process is called ...

was one of the few exceptions to the aversion to paper clothing from the late 1920s onwards, particularly as a material for making accessories or fancy-dress costumes from. While crêpe paper costumes and party dresses, particularly for small children, had been made since the 1890s as a way to create limited-use clothing for fast-growing wearers, the late 1910s saw an upsurge in the promotion of crêpe paper and other decorative papers for one-off costumes. Part of the appeal of crêpe paper was that it gave the appearance of gauze or georgette for a fraction of the cost, and could be had in various prints. Dennisons Manufacturing Co. was an American company specialising in paper products that published books offering instructions on how to make Halloween and fancy dress costumes out of crêpe paper, which they already manufactured. Newspapers suggested that crepe paper, if twisted tightly, could be crocheted or woven into stylish, rain-resistant hats, belts, handbags or accessories. When

(1939-1945) caused another surge of fabric scarcity and government restrictions, paper once again became a substitute. During the

Occupation of Paris Paris started mobilizing for war in September 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union attacked Poland, but the war seemed far away until May 10, 1940, when the Germans attacked France and quickly defeated the French army. The French governme ...

, French

milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...

s struggling with limited resources were forced to find creative solutions, and alongside wood-shavings and twine, newspaper and crêpe paper were pressed into service to manufacture innovative hats whose determined elegance and smartness acted as defiance towards the enemy. One such milliner,

Rose Valois Rose Valois was the name of a millinery establishment in Paris founded in 1927 by Madame Fernand Cleuet, Vera Leigh, and one other. It closed in 1970. During its time, it was considered one of the leading milliners of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The fo ...

, made entire hats out of woven crêpe paper. In the late 1950s, manufacturers such as the Scott Paper Company and Kimberly-Stevens developed bonded fabrics made from plant

as a cheap and disposable alternative to traditional woven textiles in laboratory and healthcare environments. However, they resisted describing these non-woven materials as paper, as they felt it suggested weakness and fragility. Scott's rayon and cellulose bonded fabric was called Duraweave, and would go on to be the material for the first successful paper dresses in 1966, launching the late Sixties craze for mass-produced paper fashion.

Paper fashion fad (1965-1969)

In 1965, an engineer for the Scott Paper Company asked his wife to design a simple dress in Duraweave to offer to prospective buyers in department stores. The garments failed to arouse commercial interest until April 1966, when Scott ran a promotional campaign for a new disposable tableware line, where they offered two different Duraweave dresses for $1.25 each via mail order, accompanied by a 52-cent voucher for the merchandise. The campaign took off, and before the year was out, Scott had received over 500 thousand orders for the "Paper Caper" designs (available in a red bandana print or an Op art pattern) and the paper dress fad of the Sixties kicked off. However, the price was so low that Scott made minimal profit, barely covering the production costs. After six months, Scott ceased production, saying that dress manufacturing was not something they wanted to do. Elisa Daggs was one of the first to set themselves up as a paper fashion designer in 1966, creating

wrap dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that covers ...

es,

caftan A kaftan or caftan (; fa, خفتان, ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's ...

s and tent dresses that were sold by

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

and other stores. She went on to design paper

sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...

s as air-stewardess uniforms for

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...

and uniforms for Trans World Airlines stewardesses which had themes such as France, England, Italy and New York. Paper dresses and other disposable garments were sold through Caroline Little and William Guggenhem III's Manhattan boutique, In Dispensable Disposables (1965-1968) and Tiger Morse opened a "Teeny Weeny" shop that sold "materials of the future" such as synthetics, paper and plastic. By September 1966, paper dresses had become so popular that a department store in Brooklyn hired

to launch a line of plain white paper dresses by the Mars Manufacturing Company which were sold with paintbrushes and boxes of

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

paints for individual customizing. For the launch, Warhol personally silkscreened a design using the word "FRAGILE" onto the singer-actor

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company limited (NICO) is a Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC buys the vast majority of Iran's gasoline imports. NICO is a key pl ...

's dress during the event while she was wearing it, and signed it Dalí. Another dress at the event was decorated by Warhol with large cut-out screen-printed bananas, and both garments were donated to the Brooklyn Museum. The following month, the

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School lands ...

held a Paper Ball, where famous fashion designers and artists, including Tzaims Luksus and

Peter Max Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-American artist known for using bright colors in his work. Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art. ...

, were asked to create couture looks out of paper for the event. The television show ''

I've Got a Secret ''I've Got a Secret'' is an American panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show, ''What's My Line ...

'' featured

Arlene Dahl Arlene Carol Dahl (August 11, 1925 – November 29, 2021) was an American actress active in films from the late 1940s. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era. She was also an author and entrepreneur. Sh ...

at the event, modeling a paper gown by Luksus alongside four other paper couture looks. Thirty years previously, the Atheneum had hosted another "Paper Ball" with elaborate paper sets created by

Pavel Tchelitchew Pavel Fyodorovich Tchelitchew ( ; russian: Па́вел Фёдорович Чели́щев) ( – 31 July 1957) was a Russian-born surrealist painter, set designer and costume designer. Early life Tchelitchew was born to an aristocratic famil ...

and circus costumes by George Balanchine,

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and hi ...

and Fernand Léger among others. This wearable art approach to paper fashion inspired many of the best-known paper dresses, such as the 1967 Souper Dress, a promotional design for the Campbell Soup Company whose print directly referenced Warhol's ''

Campbell's Soup Cans ''Campbell's Soup Cans'' (sometimes referred to as ''32 Campbell's Soup Cans'') is a Visual arts, work of art produced between November 1961 and March or April 1962 by American artist Andy Warhol. It consists of thirty-two canvases, each mea ...

'', and Harry Gordon's 1967 "Poster Dress" series. The six Gordon dresses featured enlarged black-and-white photographs, and their packaging encouraged wearers to use the dress as a wall poster or pillow covering should they tire of wearing it. Gordon intended the Poster Dresses to be purposefully simple, affordable and accessible, as a form of protest against the increasing elaboration and complexity of commercial paper fashion. Paper fashion also had a presence in Britain from the beginning. In 1966,

collaborated with Zika Ascher to produce the first British paper dresses, simple shifts with short sleeves printed by Johnson & Johnson with a

Celia Birtwell Celia Birtwell, CBE (born 1941), is a British textile designer and fashion designer, known for her distinctive bold, romantic and feminine designs, which are influenced by Picasso and Matisse, and the classical world. She was well known for her ...

design. Also in 1966,

Zandra Rhodes Dame Zandra Lindsey Rhodes, (born 19 September 1940), is an English fashion and textile designer. Her early education in fashion set the foundation for a career in the industry creating textile prints. Rhodes has designed garments for Diana, ...

and Sylvia Ayton designed an exclusive paper dress for

Miss Selfridge Miss Selfridge is a British fashion brand and former high street store chain which began as the young fashion section of Selfridges department store in London in 1966. It was part of the Arcadia Group, controlled by Sir Philip Green, which we ...

, although much of the stock was damaged by curious customers tearing to test whether it really was paper. Although he was American, the graphic artist Harry Gordon designed his 1967 Poster Dress series while living in London during the 1960s. The most successful British manufacturer of paper fashion was Dispo (Meyersohn & Silverstein Ltd). ''

Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights and offering independe ...

'' magazine found that while most manufacturers' paper dresses did not last beyond a third wash, Dispo garments could withstand being washed up to six times. Child's paper dress with Happy Birthday print, American, 1967

Child's paper dress with Happy Birthday print, American, 1967

By 1967, paper clothing merchandise in the United States had expanded dramatically, including not just dresses, but underwear, men's and children's clothing, and even raincoats and swimwear. Paper bikinis could be water-resistant enough to be used up to three times. At the beginning of the year, there was a paper shortage caused by demand for paper dresses, meaning that designers like Daggs were unable to meet their spring orders. The leading producer, Mars Manufacturing Co. of Asheville, North Carolina, reported selling 80,000 dresses a week, while Sterling Paper Products aimed to gross 6 million dollars a year through selling such paper garments as maternity dresses, a zebra-print pantsuit, and even a $15 wedding dress. Even established companies offered paper garments along their standard offerings, such as

Formfit The Formfit Company was a manufacturer of women's "foundation garments", mainly corsets and girdles. Founded in 1917 with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, it was one of the largest, if not the largest manufacturer of such products in the world. L ...

's $3 bra and petticoat set. Paper clothing boutiques were set up in department stores such as

Abraham & Straus Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...

and

I. Magnin I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, ...

. Various bonded paper materials were retailed under names such as Kendall's non-woven rayon "Webril"; "Ree-May", a spunbond polyester by DuPont; and "Kaycel", a fire-resistant 93% cellulose 7% nylon blend by Kimberly-Stevens that, it was claimed, could be washed and ironed up to 20 times. In the trade, these textiles were not called "paper", but were instead described as "non-wovens" although they were marketed and widely described as paper. The process of producing the 1950s-60s paper dress materials was a bindng technique similar to

felting Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood pu ...

. In the spring of 1967, paper yardage became available for home-dressmaking, with sewists advised to use Butterick's,

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...

or Vogue Couturier dressmaking patterns with deep armholes. Between April and October 1967, the

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

in Montreal featured paper clothing in the Pulp and Paper Pavilion. In June 1967 '' Mademoiselle'' ran a cover story, "The Big Paper Craze", highlighting some of the innovative and alternative takes on paper fashion, including a "smart smock" made from knitted paper yarn, brimmed hats made of paper, bikinis and bedroom slippers. One dress was described as "poly-plastic on Dura-Weve paper" (''sic'') that could be wiped down and ironed for repeated wear. One of the most unusual paper dresses of the decade was designed for the Paraphernalia boutique, founded in New York in 1965, whose radical designs by

Betsey Johnson Betsey Johnson (born 1942) is an American fashion designer best known for her feminine and whimsical designs. Many of her designs are considered "over the top" and embellished. She also is known for doing a cartwheel ending in a split at the ...

Diana Dew Diana Dew (June 25, 1943 – February 2008) was an American fashion designer known for creating early electronic clothing, or e-textiles, in the 1960s. Early life Born on June 25, 1943, in Memphis, Tennessee, Dew was a fashion model from age fou ...

and others, were among the few American challengers to innovative London young fashion design. The design was made from soft blotting paper which had been impregnated with seeds that immediately flowered when the dress was moistened. As with many of Paraphernalia's clothes, it was intended to be worn once and then thrown away. In January 1968 the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in Manhattan presented an exhibition titled "Made With Paper" which showcased clothing made from paper, including several dresses, hats, shirts, and a shaggy paper coat by

, who would launch a line that same year titled "Paper Route to Fashion". Cashin had been interested in the possibilities of paper since the early 1950s, when she made herself bags from it.

Pierre Cardin Pierre Cardin (, , ), born Pietro Costante Cardino (2 July 1922 – 29 December 2020), was an Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric sha ...

designed a paper jacket for a concert pianist in France, who ceremonially cut off the sleeves before giving their performance. Other couturiers such as

Hubert de Givenchy Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (; 21 February 1927 – 10 March 2018) was a French aristocrat and fashion designer who founded the luxury fashion and perfume house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the ...

and Paco Rabanne made paper designs too. For a 1967 fund-raising dinner for the Police Athletic League in New York, attendees commissioned luxurious paper dresses from American couturiers such as Ferdinando Sarmi and

Bill Blass William Ralph Blass (June 22, 1922 – June 12, 2002) was an American fashion designer. He was the recipient of many fashion awards, including seven Coty Awards and the Fashion Institute of Technology's Lifetime Achievement Award (1999). Early ...

, whose cheetah-print brown paper dress had cuffs of expensive

sable fur This list of types of fur describes the characteristics of types of fur used in fur clothing. Each type of fur serves its own purpose and has its own unique characteristics in garment manufacturing. Chinchilla Characterized by their dense, vel ...

. Even the Duchess of Windsor, a fixture on Best-Dressed lists, wore a paper dress, making paper clothing a truly democratic fashion that could be worn by anyone at any social level. 1968 political paper dresses

Paper dresses became a political tool in 1968 to accompany presidential campaigns such as those of

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, Romney, and Kennedy, as well as Nelson Rockefeller and Canada's Pierre Trudeau. While custom-printed T-shirts offered a more durable alternative, paper dresses offered an even more affordable and accessible way of advertising and expressing support. Companies such as

Butterfinger Butterfinger is a candy bar manufactured by the Ferrero SpA, a subsidiary of Ferrero. It consists of a layered crisp peanut butter core covered in a chocolatey coating. Invented by Otto Schnering of the Curtiss Candy Company in 1923, the name ...

Green Giant Green Giant and Le Sueur (spelled Le Sieur in Canada) are brands of frozen and canned vegetables owned by B&G Foods. The company's mascot is the Jolly Green Giant. Company and brand history The Minnesota Valley Canning Company was founded in ...

, Viking Carpets and Owens Corning offered paper dress giveaways to encourage customers to buy their merchandise. For one or two wrappers or box tops plus a dollar or two, customers could acquire a dress from

Lifebuoy A lifebuoy is a life-saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in water, to provide buoyancy and prevent drowning. Some modern lifebuoys are fitted with one or more seawater-activated lights, to aid rescue at night. Other names Other nam ...

, Breck, or Pillsbury, sometimes with an additional matching hat. ''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' sent a Valentine's Day themed paper dress to their subscribers, the white dress printed with an Op-Art rendering of the TIME logo and packed in a red box with a note reading: “For your ValenTIME for every week in homes like yours across the country, some six million women slip into a little black-and-white print that’s just their taste and interests: TIME, the weekly news magazine.” Some dresses were printed to commemorate historical events, such as one printed with newspaper front pages about the

Apollo 10 Apollo 10 (May 18–26, 1969) was a human spaceflight, the fourth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the second (after Apollo8) to orbit the Moon. NASA described it as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing, and ...

launch in May 1969. By 1969, however, the novelty of paper dresses was quickly wearing off as they were not very comfortable, their flat shift-dress shapes felt repetitive and lacked variety, and their fire- and water-proofing was unreliable. Increasing awareness of the environmental concerns of indiscriminate disposal and throw-away consumerism also contributed towards the dropping off of interest in paper fashion. However, the idea of paper clothing endured on a more practical level, in the form of single-wear disposable sleepwear and underwear for traveling, and clothing for healthcare and medical environments. The paper fashion fad effectively foreshadowed early 21st-century fast fashion.

Paper fashion (1970-1999)

Although paper dresses had fallen out of style, non-woven paper-like materials such as

continued to inspire designers and manufacturers. For a mainstream audience, however, paper clothing was mainly marketed as a functional option for traveling, for convenience, and for disposable garments for work and healthcare environments, such as hospital gowns, scrubs, and

coverall A boilersuit (or boiler suit), also known as coveralls, is a loose fitting garment covering the whole body except for the head, hands and feet. Terminology The term ''boilersuit'' is most common in the UK, where the 1989 edition of the ''Oxfo ...

s. Paper was seldom seen in mainstream fashion garments in the 1970s and 1980s. One exception, seen from the late 1980s onwards, is washable Tyvek as a fabric for promotional jackets and other garments. Hussein Chalayan AIrmail Dress, designed 1993 (cropped)

Hussein Chalayan AIrmail Dress, designed 1993 (cropped)

The revival of paper as a fashion fabric came in the 1990s, when designers began looking anew at using non-woven fabric. This also formed part of a revival of interest in futurism while on the edge of the new millennium. Established designers such as

Vivienne Tam Vivienne Tam (, born 28 November 1957) is a fashion designer based in New York City. She was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, and moved to Hong Kong at the age of three. She attended the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Tam's fashion brand ...

, Helmut Lang, or

Yeohlee Teng Yeohlee Teng is an American fashion designer originally from Malaysia and of Chinese heritage. She received the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for fashion design in 2004. Her work has been displayed at the Metropolitan Museu ...

occasionally incorporated paper or paper-substitutes into their work. For a Spring-Summer 1992 ready-to-wear collection for

Comme des Garçons Comme des Garçons (also known as CDG) is a Japanese fashion label based in Paris that was created and led by Rei Kawakubo. Its French flagship store is located in Paris. This label owns a world-wide store chain featuring various lines of pro ...

Rei Kawakubo (b. 1942) is a Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. She is the founder of Comme des Garçons and Dover Street Market. In recognition of the notable design contributions of Kawakubo, an exhibition of her designs entitled '' Rei ...

designed dresses made from polyester-rayon paper material intricately cut in traditional Japanese patterns to create an all-over lace texture. Other looks in the same collection looked more like the paper dress patterns used to make garments, than they did traditional garments. For Autumn-Winter 1998 Miuccia Prada designed a two-piece white dress with a pleated paper skirt applied with panels of thin plastic, and

Junya Watanabe Junya Watanabe (born 1961) is a Japanese fashion designer, a protégé of Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo. He continues to work for Comme des Garcons: His atelier is located on the second floor of its Tokyo headquarters, and he produces ...

offered tunics made from non-woven cloth in Spring-Summer 1996. One of the designers most associated with updated paper fashion in the 1990s was the British-based Cypriot designer

. In 1993, the same year that he graduated from

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

, Chalayan created his "Airmail Dress" based upon air-mail envelopes that fold out into letter-paper. The dress itself can be folded into an incorporated envelope and mailed, with the idea that the sender can write or draw over the largely blank paper surface before sending it to the recipient to unfold and wear. The Airmail dress was later reissued in limited editions, and in 2001, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' held a competition to give away ten Airmail Dresses. The Tyvek material used for the mailers inspired Chalayan to design an entire collection of "paper" polyethylene fashion in 1995, some of which featured air-mail stripes such as the jacket worn by Björk on the cover of her album, ''

Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

''.

Another designer who became known for her paper fashion was Sarah Caplan, an artist and graphic designer based in California, whose 1999 designs were intended to recreate the 1960s fashion for the new millennium. Her inkjet-printed Tyvek designs included one printed with the Twin Towers, and another featuring a shark. In 1996 the artist

James Rosenquist James Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advertising a ...

was approached by

Hugo Boss Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a luxury fashion house headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing companies, ...

to ask whether they could replicate his trademark 1966 paper suit for charity. NB: Rosenquist recalls 2006 in his autobiography, clearly an error as the Hugo Boss suits are dated March 1998 The original suit, created in 1966 by the tailor Horst using brown paper supplied by Kleenex had been commissioned by Rosenquist after he became tired of renting formalwear. Although the suit eventually fell apart a few months later after being worn multiple times and dyed black, it became something that Rosenquist was particularly known for. The

suits were created in March 1998 in a limited edition of 100 to accompany an exhibition at the

Deutsche Guggenheim The Deutsche Guggenheim was an art museum in Berlin, Germany, open from 1997 to 2013.Kuhla, Karoline"Final Exhibition: The Guggenheim's Farewell to Berlin" ''Spiegel Online'', November 15, 2012 It was located in the ground floor of the Deutsche B ...

. One of the Rosenquist replica suits was subsequently worn by John Karastamatis, a publicity agent for

Mirvish Productions Mirvish Productions is a Canadian based theatrical production company and promoter. The company was founded in 1987 by David Mirvish, son of Toronto retailing icon and owner of the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Ed Mirvish. The first assets acquired ...

, to the 2000 Toronto premiere of Mirvish's live action ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...

'', where the seat of the trousers ripped open in front of the cameras, and had to be repaired with masking tape.

Paper fashion in the 21st century

2017 Paper Fashion Show, King George Square, Brisbane 07

In the early 21st century paper fashion has largely been limited to one-off events, novelty fashion shows, or competitions. Olivia Horsfall Turner has suggested that the true 21st-century legacy of the 1960s paper fashion fad is fast fashion, where, due to

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...

, fabric clothing can be manufactured and retailed so inexpensively that consumers throw it away rather than launder it. Where paper clothing exists in the 21st-century mainstream, it is mainly in medical, safety- and hygiene-conscious environments, such as disposable hospital gowns. In 2005, ATOPOS CVC, based in Athens, started the RRRIPP!! collection of paper dresses and garments. ATOPOS is a non-profit organization founded in 2003 by Vassilis Zidianakis and Stamos Fafalios that focuses on the human body and its presentation and adornment. The ATOPOS collection numbers over 500 examples of paper fashion from early Japanese artefacts to contemporary designer pieces, though the majority of the collection is from 1966 to 1969. Alongside worn and wearable pieces, including paper vests worn by French and Belgian prisoners of war during World War II and 18th-century ''kamiko'' are unique artworks such as Isabelle de Borchgrave's paper replica of a Christian Dior suit and commissioned paper garments by contemporary designers such as

Rick Owens Richard Saturnino Owens (born November 18, 1962) is an American fashion designer from Porterville, California. In addition to his main line, Owens has a furniture line and a number of diffusion lines. Early life and education Richard Saturnino ...

and Sophia Kokosalaki. The ATOPOS collection formed the basis for an internationally traveling exhibition in the late 2000s and early 2010s which was seen at many museums including the

Benaki Museum The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the ...

MUDAM The Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art (french: Musée d'art moderne Grand-Duc Jean), abbreviated to Mudam, is a museum of modern art in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The museum stands on the site of the old Fort Thüngen, on the so ...

(Luxembourg), ModeMuseum Antwerpen, and the Design Museum, London. The collection has also acquired examples of paper fashion from catwalk presentations, including a 2004 ensemble in brown paper from AF Vandevorst's Spring-Summer collection, and work by the Japanese-Brazilian designer Jum Nakao, whose 2004 fashion presentation in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

of intricately laser cut, embossed and constructed white paper gowns notoriously ended with the models ripping the garments off their bodies. Paper is a popular novelty theme for fashion shows or competitions, both one-off and regular events. In

Mollerussa Mollerussa is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Pla d'Urgell, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nati ...

, Spain, an annual paper-dressmaking contest has been run every December since 1963, and the city founded a museum in 2009 to showcase the winning designs, the Museu Vestitis de Paper Mollerussa. The Museu Vestitis holds the Guinness World Record for the largest paper dress display as of October 2018. The rules of the competition are that every design must be sewn, with no glue or adhesion used unless for trimmings and ornament, although the surface of the paper is permitted to be painted or sprayed. Another Spanish paper dressmaking contest, founded in the late 1950s, is held each September in

Güeñes The council of Güeñes is a municipality in the county of Encartaciones (Biscay, Basque Country, Spain). It is furrowed by the waters of the river Cadagua and forms with its neighbor, the municipality of Zalla, Salcedo Valley. In the North it bor ...

, Basque County as part of the annual La Cruz de Güeñes festival. Dresses from both the Güeñes and Mollerussa contests have been exhibited at the Escuela Museo de Origami in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, Europe's only museum dedicated to

origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a f ...

and located in the same city as Europe's largest paper mill. Elsewhere,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

has held a paper fashion contest each spring since 2004 to celebrate and showcase local

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

design talent.