Objects

Helena Rubinstein was known for her love of lavish parties, which constituted an opportunity for her to make not only social contacts but also business contacts. Thanks to her first husband, the journalist and publisher Edward William Titus, she had the chance to meet many prominent writers such as David Herbert Lawrence, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce. Parties organised by the entrepreneur in her Parisian days were attended by Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, Christian Dior, or Marc Chagall. She also threw grand parties in New York, with her second husband, the Georgian Prince Artczil Gouerill Tczkoni. Even the press was interested in the guest list.

Suzanne Slesin, in her biography of Helena Rubinstein with the remarkably telling title "Over the top: Helena Rubinstein, Extraordinary Style, Beauty, Art, Fashion, and Design", recalls Madame's New York apartment. The penthouse on Park Avenue in Manhattan had twenty-six rooms, whose walls were covered with paintings by artists "hitherto seen only in museums". Helena Rubinstein liked to photograph herself in colourful interiors, and these images are still reproduced in numerous articles and publications. The author of the biography also recalls other Rubinstein’s apartments to which she was invited with her mother and stepfather for holidays. Apart from New York, Madame also owned apartments in Paris and London as well as three country estates (two in France, one in the United States). All those houses were unique and overflowing with works of art, with the staff ready to welcome the owner and her guests at any time.

The coat, included in the celebrity's collection of memorabilia, certainly accompanied her at one of her elegant social gatherings. This extremely glamorous and sequin-heavy garment with a simple and elegant cut was designed by one of Spain's most famous designers Pedro Rodriguez (1895-1990). A similar coat, designed for the American actress Ava Gardner (1922-1990), can be found in the collection of the Museum of Clothing (Museo del Traje) in Madrid.