History of fashion

The history of fashion is a history of people. During this

past century, it was the couturiers and designers that laid
the foundations of the modern fashion industry we know
today. The liberation of women from corseted
confinement, the creation of ready-to-wear clothing,
logos, licensing, window displays, lifestyle brands, fashion
shows, marketing and even protection of intellectual
property rights, are each a direct result of the ingenuity,
bravery and creative genius of individuals who were in
their lifetimes stylistic and societal visionaries.
Charles Frederick Worth
• The first fashion designer who was more than a simple seamster
was Charles Frederick Worth, in the 19th century. Before he set up
his fashion design house in Paris, clothing was made by anonymous
dressmakers and fashion standards were derived from the styles worn
by royalty.
• Charles Frederick Worth initiated “haute couture”
• First Designer to develop and produce the final product of women’s
clothing
• Set the tone for high fashion during the latter half of the 19th century
• Brought Paris Fashion home to America
Born in 1826 in England.
*At age 12, Worth began working at
Allenby’s, which was the largest
fabric store in London at the time.
*Left London for Paris in 1846 at age
20 where he began working at Gagelins
on the rue de Richelieu. They sold
shawls, ready-made coats, and fabrics.
*Worth believed that customers should
be able to choose what fabrics and trims
would be added to their garments
• He began designing dresses for his wife so that when
customers came to the shop, they would be astonished and
want the same thing.
• Worth became so successful because customers were so
intrigued, that the firm Gagelin and Opige, created a
dressmaking workroom for him.
• In the late 1850’s, the Worth’s opened their own business on
the rue de la Paix.
• The House of Worth’s dressmakers began serving the Empress
Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, in 1860, once she had heard of
Worth’s accomplishments.
• The Empress had the House of Worth appointed as the court
dressmaker in 1860.
• After this, the Worth’s acclaimed international success.
Worth died in 1895, at the age of 71
Paul poiret
Was born in 1879
Began his career at the House of Worth
He understood the importance of costuming famous
actresses that were in major stage productions.
Between 1898 and 1900, he designed costumes for
actors.
Throughout his career he used the theatre to promote his
designs.
He dominated the world of couture between 1907 and
the first World War
Poiret’s work was criticized by the press because cubism, contemporary
music, and other avant-garde demonstrations were called “Germanic” and
“barbarian,” during the time of the War.
The fact that his creations were favorites in Germany was used to “prove”
his sympathy for the enemy.
WW1 brought many changes to the couture. Poiret and other designers
were drafted into the military, and their houses were closed.
Many weavers and silk industry clients were called into the army.
Poiret dressed stars like Marthe Brandes, Theo, Mary Garden, and
Reishenberg.
Poiret began his own House at 5, rue Auber.
He established the School of Decorative Arts which he named Martine.
He created the minaret skirt and a vogue for harem skirts.
Like Charles Worth, for whom he briefly worked, Poiret was a turn-
of-the-century archetype of the grand couturier as dictator, a job
both men seemed to enjoy as much as, if not more, than dressing
women. Together, they set the tone for the role of the “great
designer” still with us today. The tantrums, the refusal to accept
legitimate criticism, the need for adulation: these and many other
characteristics of the great designer sprang from the attitudes of
these two extraordinary men who could understand and interpret
the moods and needs of the women of their time more fully than
most present day designers do, because they worked on a small
scale where every client was known — and so were her dress
attitudes and lifestyle.
n 1914, he introduced the designer tour, which led to the trunk
show (still part of many selling stratagems in designer fashion
today)
Jeanne lanvin
• Jeanne Lanvin, the milliner turned mogul who outlived the
competition. She built the longest-running fashion house in the world
on cloche hats, feminine clothes and a fragrance which is still around
to this day.
• She was about clothes that were pretty rather than fashionable but
she was successful because they gave women confidence. No Lanvin
gown ever overwhelmed the women wearing it and, in that brittle
‘20s world, when chic was all, that was quite an achievement.
Whereas Chanel pared down, Lanvin added decoration because she
knew that it appealed to women who wished to look smart but not
like a fashion plate.
• Jeanne Lanvin never had a 'look' that characterised her thinking for any one
season. Every collection offered a wide variety of options for clients, carefully
calibrated to cover a wide age range and a spectrum of figure types.
Everything she offered her customers was meant to enhance their femininity,
not just in their own eyes but also those of the husbands and lovers who paid
the bills.
• she created the identical mother and daughter looks.
• she is leading figure in French couture for most of the twentieth century and
her name is still honoured today.
Madeleine vionnet
• Madeleine Vionnet built an empire by rejecting corsets and buttons in
favour of the bias cut.
• the re-creator of the seemingly lost technique of cutting fabricon the
bias
• Her first collection was shown on models wearing neither corsets or
shoes as Vionnet was a great fan of the modern 'free-form' dance
sensation Isadora Duncan, who performed in simple shifts and
nothing else.
Gabrielle chanel
• Born in 1883 in France.She received the nickname “Coco” because as a
young girl, she would rise at the crack of dawn to go horseback riding.
• She taught women to dare to wear fake jewelry because she herself did,
which will probably continue forever.
• One day when she felt cold, she put on a polo sweater, and so the idea
of using jersey for feminine clothes was born in her mind.
• She is the creator of the little black dress.
• Went against convention by wearing clothes like a man.created a
modern powerful woman largely independent from men and free in her
clothes.
• Many French and English Aristocrats had been killed in the battles of
WW1, and the postwar cycles of depression and inflation created
instability and financial uncertainty.
• The Fashion industry took a hit because of these economical factors
which allowed Chanel popularity because of the simplicity in her
designs.
• Elite women of high societies around the world wore Chanel
when she revolutionized haute couture. She designed stage
costumes for the plays Cocteau’s Antigone (1923) and Oedipus
Rex (1937) and film costumes for several movies.
Elsa schiaparelli
• She flirted with surrealism and brought shock factor into fashion
• Her iconic signatures are lobster dress, tear dress, shoe- hat in
collaboration with Salvador dali, skeleton dress, high padded
shoulders, evening gloves.
• She introduced shocking pink color and the zipper into high fashion
Cristobal balenciaga
• He gave women a new silhouette. experimenting with volumes, he
introduced the semi- fitted cut and toneau/ barrel line in fashion
• He designed the uniforms for air-france hostesses
• His signature styles are cocoon and square coats, balloon jacket and
skirt, sack- backed day dresses, toreador like beaded boleros,
peacock- tail dress.
Christian dior
• He introduced the “new look” silhouette with a slopped shoulder,
raised bustline , narrowed waist and a monumental volume of skirt
falling away from a padded hipline to below the calf.
• His iconic signature styles are bar suit and jacket , bar bag, Scarlatti
dress, venus.
Yves saint Laurent
• He made a lasting impact by turning back on French house and embracing
ready to wear
• He was the first couturier to market his pret-a-porte line, understanding
less expensive clothes would reach a larger clientele
• He was the one of the first to tap black modelsand promote diversity in
fashion
• His signature styles ar womens tuxedo, leopard print, safari suit, Mondrian
dress
• He plundered pop colture,primitive socities, and the works of great artists
in a series of ground breaking concepts like pop art,safari, Africa, morcco,
ballet russes etc
 Why is france known for haute couture

The garments are custom-made, not mass-produced like

in the U.S. There is so much work and creativity that is
put into the actual garment, which makes it so inspiring
and cherished.
The whole world awaits for the new Paris fashions to
trickle down to their local malls and boutiques.
Manufacturers all over the world will do whatever it takes
the minute they hear what color will be fashionable and
what fabric will be in trend.
What is a fashion house
A fashion house or “couture house” is headed by a top designer
where new fabrics, trims, etc. are discussed.
Manufacturers go to couture houses and present their new ideas to
the designers.
There are two different departments in a fashion house:
The flou, which is the dressmaking department and the tailleur,
which is the tailoring department.
Assignment
• Choose one international designer and one of his/her collection.write
500 words essay about him/her and the collection choosen
• Develop a paper bag/cloth bag/file cover/phone cover inspired by the
collection choosen .
• Submission date – 4th december
Example-
Chanel s/s resort wear 18

You can recreate the texture from the collection/ play with
color scheme of the collection/Or take inpiration from any
other details to design your file cover or any other item of
choice.