Trio of Dresses Dress

Like Fortuny, Mary McFadden looked to ancient cultures for inspiration and patented a specialized treatment of fibers to achieve the perceived effect of draped cloth carved from stone. In 1975 McFadden developed ‘Marii,’ a synthetic charmeuse pleated to create an effect like “liquid gold against the body.” Richmond’s Frances Lewis wore this avant-garde Marii ensemble to the 1985 opening of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ West Wing, built in part to house the Lewis’ own large donation of Contemporary Art.