‘Fashion’ Archives
Unisex Look
Androgynous/Unisex Look Androgynous looks have been produced under the various influences of politics, subcultures and musical styles. For men, embracing an androgynous style has meant the adoption of a decorative and sexualized style of clothing. Ironically, for women it has often involved the opposite, a desexualization and simplification of [...]
Mary Quant
Mary Quant Fashion designer Mary Quant was one of the most influential British designers in the ‘Swinging Sixties’. Born in 1934 and trained at Goldsmith’s College, Quant opened her Kings Road boutique Bazaar in 1955. Her innovative, youthful fashions were an immediate success and led to Quant opening other stores as well as designing for [...]
Savile Row
Savile Row Traditionally, the best suits for men have been tailored in Savile Row, London. Austin Reed, Dunn’s, Gieves and Hawkes and Moss Bros are names of tailors whose work has become the basis for nationwide retail outlets, though the most sought-after suit makers are the smaller Savile Row tailors. However, in recent years, fashion [...]
Retro
Retro ‘Retro’ is a 1970s term made current by French writers commenting upon the postmodernist fashion for artists, designers and film-makers to revive and recycle past styles, often very recent ones. A shop called Retro duly opened on the Tottenham Court Road in 1975, and by 1979 the backlash had started with feminist art critic Lucy [...]
Linen
Linen In the Bible, pure white garments worn in heaven were considered to have been made from linen, which is known to have been used for textiles as early as the seventh millennium BC. It is washable and can be made into very fine, thin cloth so that it was popular with the ancient Egyptians. Linen comes from the bast fibres of flax. The [...]
Cotton
Cotton Cotton was the only fibre from the seed of a plant which had any commercial value in antiquity. It came either from a tree or from a perennial plant. The fibres grow on the seeds within the seed pod or boll. When this splits open in the summer, the seeds and cotton wool are picked out, traditionally by hand; in developed countries [...]
Donna Karan
Donna Karan American fashion designer born in New York City. Karan studied at Parsons School of Design before being employed as a sketcher by fashion designer Anne Klein. Appointed Klein’s successor in 1969, Karan worked for the label until she formed her own in 1984. She produced comfortable, tailored working clothes for executive women that [...]
Parsons School of Design
Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, private, coeducational institution of higher education offering programs in art and design. Part of the New School for Social Research, Parsons is located in New York City. The school was founded in 1896 as the Chase School by American painter and art educator William Merritt Chase. Two years [...]
Christian Dior
Christian Dior Dior, Christian (1905-1957), French couturier, born in Granville, and educated for the diplomatic service at the École des Sciences Politiques in Paris. He began working in the fashion industry in the 1930s and opened his own salon in Paris in 1946. In 1947 he introduced the so-called New Look, featuring narrow shoulders and [...]
Valentino (fashion designer)
Valentino (fashion designer) Valentino (fashion designer) (1932– ), professional name of Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani. Valentino was born in Voghera, Italy, north of Milan. Interested in fashion, he moved to Paris, France, at the age of 17. In Paris he studied fashion at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1949 to 1951 and [...]
