![André Leon Talley with Melissa Ceria, curator of FIAF’s Art de Vivre series “The Power of Style.”](http://www.prettyconnected.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/MGP_0017-1024x743.jpg)
What do leather, latex, and neoprene have in common? Each of these disparate materials has inspired a visionary designer, and was transformed in turn—cut, draped, and sewn into fashion’s ultimate expression of beautiful simplicity: the little black dress.