Carmen Marc?

S

Shanyn Navarro

Registered Guest
I have here a black silk cocktail dress, I'm guessing 80's with the label Carmen Marc...no Valvo. All of his labels I could find Have his full name in caps "CARMEN MARC VALVO". I am wondering if this is an earlier, private collection or other of Carmen Macr Valvo, or mearly a coincidence in the name.
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I think I can help you with this. I had a 1980s' silk dress many years ago with that label, and although I no longer have the information that I found at the time, I was able to ascertain with a fair amount of certainty that this was indeed a very early line by "the" Carmen Marc Valvo. It may have been done specifically for a particular department store chain or chains, but it pre-dated his Carmen Marc Valvo labels. The dress I had was really lovely--very high-quality silk, nicely made, and classically stylish.

Oddly enough, I had a Carmen Marc Valvo dress a couple of years ago, made while his name was big, and it wasn't as nicely fashioned as the other, earlier piece, made before he was famous.
 
Interesting that's an early label. The font is very different from the current label. As far as I know, he is still designing. I have two of his pieces - they are both wonderful. I bought this in 2001 after a fashion show given prior to the Opera Ball that year.(The theme was the "Carmen Ball" and the chair arranged the show. He was there! The dresss was a sample and I loved it so much I asked if I could buy it. CMV had to call his NY studio to find out how much to charge. This photo was taken in 2008.

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I bought the black dress in 2009 at "Act II" - a fundraiser the opera holds every two years featuring gently worn fashions, so I'm not sure when it was made. It's interesting that both dresses have tiered bodices.
 
I am almost certain this is 80s...I know he started his official line "CARMEN MARC VALVO" in 1989...I am hoping this is an earlier piece...I want to know if "Carmen Marc" and "CARMEN MARC VALVO" are on in the same.
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Your dress certainly looks 80s to me, probably mid to late--it looks beautifully made.

As I said earlier,
although I no longer have the information that I found at the time, I was able to ascertain with a fair amount of certainty that this was indeed a very early line by "the" Carmen Marc Valvo. It may have been done specifically for a particular department store chain or chains, but it pre-dated his Carmen Marc Valvo labels.
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I can't get more definitive than that, and I do recall that it was very difficult to hunt up the information at the time. I'm not sure, unless you were to wrote to CMV's company, that it's possible to get 100% confirmation of that fact. I was convinced, based on what I found, that they are the same person. Sometimes very early information is hard to come by on a designer, even one as contemporary as CMV. Or, if his first line or lines were made for "lesser" stores, the information may not be something that the designer wants widely publicized. Or, this may have even been a "cheaper" line he did while designing under the full-name label. But my dress was, I'm pretty sure, more mid 80s than late 80s.

If you want absolute confirmation of this, I really do suggest you write to the company and see what they say. I may have done so at the time--I can't remember--but they didn't respond if I did, or I would have remembered.
 
I appreciate your advice. I would not have thought to contact CMV's company....Not sure they will respond to someone without importance...but it's worth a try.. Thank you much.
 
I would not have thought to contact CMV's company....Not sure they will respond to someone without importance...but it's worth a try.
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Yes, it is worth a try. I've written to several companies and/or designers regarding pieces I've found that I've had questions on. Most of the larger firms and "big names" don't respond, but I've had decent luck with others. I think many others here have had good results in contacting makers as well. (The Bollman Hat Company was incredibly helpful when I was researching a fairly hard-to-find hat of theirs. So you just never know....)
 
I've had a fair rate of success I think: very good replies from Clarks who have an archive department on their shoes, no reply from Debenhams about their old department stores and a dated advert from Moorlands (sheepskin lined footwear) on a shoe query.
 
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