tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/fashion-design-30590/articles
Fashion design – The Conversation
2024-03-06T22:26:29Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222569
2024-03-06T22:26:29Z
2024-03-06T22:26:29Z
Oscars 2024: How a dress goes from haute couture design to red carpet
<p>Designing an outfit for a celebrity to wear at the Oscars is often seen <a href="https://abc13.com/2024-academy-awards-oscars-ceremony-how-to-watch-red-carpet-when-are-the/14469675/">as a dream opportunity for</a> fashion designers. </p>
<p>Yet, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2013/02/23/a_peek_under_oscars_skirt/">embarking on this journey demands</a> financial investment, brand reputation, creative talent and technical expertise.</p>
<p>Haute couture literally translates as “high dressmaking.” In its strictest sense, this refers to a <a href="https://www.fhcm.paris/en/maisons?status=1">specific fashion house designation</a> acknowledged by the French <em>Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode</em>. More generally, the term is used to describe <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/haute-couture">the business of creating meticulously crafted</a> garments for an individual client or a special occasion.</p>
<p>Elite <a href="https://www.google.ca/books/edition/La_haute_couture/1s0-NAAACAAJ?hl=en%2085">haute couture designers</a> have consistently managed to dress celebrities for the Oscars. </p>
<p>Haute couture designers include renowned names <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/zendaya-oscars-2022">like Valentino</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/she-wore-what-how-to-read-the-oscars-fashion-script-22216">Armani Privé</a>, <a href="https://www.schiaparelli.com/en/news/2022-03-28-maggie-gyllenhaal-wore-custom-schiaparelli-haute-couture-to-the-94th-academy-awards?previous=true">Schiaparelli Couture</a>, Atelier Versace, <a href="https://people.com/style/elizabeth-taylor-1961-oscars-dress-discovered-in-suitcase-decades-after-event/">Christian Dior</a>, <a href="https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/chanel-oscars-karl-lagerfeld-best-red-carpet-1203041171/">Chanel</a>, Givenchy and <a href="https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/yves-saint-laurent_9781419744372/">Saint Laurent</a>. More recently, it’s included <a href="https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-04-29/the-untold-story-of-the-dress-in-which-halle-berry-made-oscars-history.html#">Elie Saab</a>, <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/03/elizabeth-banks-vivienne-westwood-bespoke-gown-oscars">Vivienne Westwood</a>, <a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a43283701/allison-williams-giambattista-valli-dress-oscars-2023/">Giambattista Valli</a>, Prada, Fendi Couture and Vera Wang, among others.</p>
<p>My passion for creativity, design, luxury and fashion has marked my professional career. Previously, I was a researcher at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, where my work <a href="https://bup.egeaonline.it/en/119/book-profiles/138/made-in-italy-industries?hl=Made%20in%20Italy%20Industries">examined made-in-Italy industries</a> and <a href="https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Masters_of_the_Sea/WdBXLwEACAAJ?hl=en">luxury design</a>.</p>
<p>As an Italian who has recently embarked on a new chapter in Canada, I invite you to delve into haute couture with me, where exceptional craftsmanship, innovative designs and strategic expertise come to life.</p>
<h2>Distinctive esthetics</h2>
<p>Giorgio Armani has described haute couture as “<a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/fashion-trends/a36424109/giorgio-armani-interview-haute-couture/">the peak of my world</a>,” highlighting it as a realm where creativity, imagination and the freedom to experiment thrive. </p>
<p>Each haute couture atelier of a particular brand is celebrated for its distinctive esthetic. </p>
<p>Valentino is famed for its <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/happy-90-birthday-valentino-garavani-a-red-dress-celebration">glamorous and iconic red</a> evening dresses, while <a href="https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847845309">Giorgio Armani Privé</a> is recognized for its attention to detail and <a href="https://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2023/03/14/giorgio-armani-armani-prive-2023-vanity-fair-oscar-party">elegant attire</a>. </p>
<p>Schiaparelli is known for <a href="https://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/shocking-the-surreal-world-of-elsa-schiaparelli-hardcover">its avant-garde designs</a> that merge art with fashion.</p>
<h2>Fashion and visual art</h2>
<p>Haute couture designs can include a range of garments <a href="https://www.fireflybooks.com/BookDetails?Pid=227">such as gowns</a>, evening wear or wedding attire, all made from premium fabrics. </p>
<p>Skilled artisans <a href="https://www.google.ca/books/edition/A_Cultural_History_of_Western_Fashion_fr/7YhHzwEACAAJ?hl=en">devote extraordinary attention to every detail</a> and finish of these garments. </p>
<p>Within each atelier, <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Haute_Couture">a hierarchy of craftsmanship exists</a>, ranging from the most experienced “first hands” to “second hands” and then to apprentices, each level reflecting the artisan’s skill and experience.</p>
<h2>Each piece remains a symbol</h2>
<p>Haute couture showcases a fusion of craftsmanship with cutting-edge design.
These pieces are designed to be timeless, crafted with durable materials and components, ensuring each piece remains a lasting symbol of beauty and craftsmanship.</p>
<p>The journey from an initial concept to a completed dress involves several months of craftsmanship, including countless fittings and continuous enhancements to achieve perfection. </p>
<p>The outcome <a href="https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Couture_Culture/VZNYHQAACAAJ?hl=en">is a work of art</a> distinguished by its intricate textures, a blend of fabrics and materials, elaborate embroidery and exceptional customer service.</p>
<h2>Initial design</h2>
<p>The design process typically begins with initial sketches, followed by the creation of a muslin or toile prototype, which is then tailored to the desired shape. This stage is crucial for refining the initial ideas into a concept that meets the designer’s vision. For bespoke orders, the designer presents multiple sketches for the client to approve. </p>
<p>The client can select the garment’s silhouette, fabrics, embroidery patterns (if desired) and additional finishing touches. Throughout this process, the client receives guidance from a highly knowledgeable salesperson. </p>
<p>The use of <a href="https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/haute-couture-atelier">luxurious materials such as</a> silk, tulle, embroidery, lace and feathers, along with innovative combinations of various fabrics, textures and decorative elements, enhances the garment’s elegance and sophistication.</p>
<h2>From pattern-making to final masterpiece</h2>
<p>For custom-made garments, the <a href="https://www.marabout.com/livre/la-bible-de-la-couture-9782501160315/">creation process starts with</a> customer measurements. A prototype garment is first made from basic fabrics. This step allows for adjustments to ensure the client’s fit and design preferences before the final, more luxurious fabrics are used. For runway designs, this prototype fitting is conducted on a model.</p>
<p>Creating a haute couture piece can involve artisan-intensive techniques such as embroidery, beading and other embellishments, demanding hundreds or thousands of hours of handwork. </p>
<p>After the garment is completed, final fittings are conducted to guarantee perfect tailoring. To further enhance the ensemble, accessories are carefully chosen to complement the dress. </p>
<h2>Celebrity and designer legacies</h2>
<p>Stylists and celebrities collaborate to choose dresses, often partnering with designers to create bespoke pieces — or <a href="https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-04-29/the-untold-story-of-the-dress-in-which-halle-berry-made-oscars-history.html">tailor existing runway designs</a>. </p>
<p>This customization process is particularly relevant for dresses showcased during the <a href="https://www.fhcm.paris/en/paris-fashion-week">Paris Haute Couture Week</a>, which occurs biannually at the end of January and in early July, marking spring-summer and fall-winter collections respectively. This is organized by the <a href="https://www.fhcm.paris/en">Chambre Syndicale de la Couture</a>. </p>
<p>Once a dress debuts on the red carpet, <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo3684378.html">it captures the public’s and the media’s attention, becoming a significant part of</a> the celebrity’s public image and the designer’s legacy.</p>
<p>The world of haute couture <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975519853667">thrives on these collaborative efforts</a>, with fashion brands playing a central role in orchestrating these dynamic relationships.</p>
<h2>Beyond the event</h2>
<p>In the social media age, an entire economy <a href="https://theconversation.com/barbie-isnt-just-a-movie-star-now-shes-also-a-virtual-social-media-influencer-207885">of social media influencing</a> <a href="https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/1367810/pov-chris-olsen-tinx-and-more-social-media-stars-take-over-oscars-2023">surrounds formal gatherings and events</a>.</p>
<p>Celebrity endorsement is crucial for the success of haute couture brands, as it can significantly influence consumer interest and sales in <a href="https://thefactory8.com/difference-ready-wear-haute-couture/">their ready-to-wear and</a> accessory lines.</p>
<p>Unique dresses sometimes find <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300166552/100-dresses/">a place in museum exhibitions</a>, such as those at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Designers may also archive these pieces. </p>
<p>These practices underscore the dresses’ role in preserving the brand’s legacy and contributing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-422X(85)90003-8">to its symbolic value</a>, which can be leveraged for future growth and recognition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222569/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luana Carcano does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Beyond film, the Oscars spotlights the world of haute couture, where each design house involved in creating bespoke garments is celebrated for its distinctive esthetic.
Luana Carcano, Lecturer, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/223156
2024-02-14T14:13:58Z
2024-02-14T14:13:58Z
The New Look: Apple TV drama shows how Dior brought optimism to a war-weary world
<p>Christian Dior’s 1947 “<a href="https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75379/bar-skirt-suit-christian-dior/?carousel-image=2018LB9107">new look</a>” – a collection of extravagantly brimmed hats, wide full skirts and cinched waists that drew attention to the female silhouette – signalled a new post-war era of optimism, pleasure and a sense of life returning to normal. </p>
<p>Dior’s <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/education/fashion-az/haute-couture">haute couture</a> collection remains a historical moment for post-war fashion, and lends its name to Apple’s new ten-part series. The drama explores the state of Parisian couture in the final year of the second world war and the years that followed through the lives of important designers. This includes Dior and his contemporaries Coco Chanel, Pierre Balmain, <a href="https://theconversation.com/disneys-cristobal-balenciaga-reveals-the-power-the-politics-and-the-drama-of-high-fashion-222528">Cristóbal Balenciaga</a>, Lucien Lelong, Hubert de Givenchy and Pierre Cardin.</p>
<p>Inspired by true events, the series stars Ben Mendelsohn as Dior, Maisie Williams as his younger sister Catherine, Juliette Binoche as Chanel, John Malkovich as Lelong and Glenn Close as the US Harper’s Bazaar fashion editor Carmel Snow.</p>
<p>The series begins in the wake of Dior’s huge success with the launch of his <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Golden_Age_of_Couture.html?id=lEXrAAAAMAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y">new look</a> collection in 1947 with a Q&A at Sorbonne University in Paris. After a riotous welcome from an audience of fashion students, the Frenchman explains: “For those who lived through the chaos of war, creation was survival.” </p>
<p>This is the theme of the series, revealed in flashback: how the destruction and horror of war affected the world-renowned Parisian fashion market – its designers, design houses, those who worked within the industry and the people of France themselves.</p>
<p>A central character on and off screen is Dior’s <a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571356539-miss-dior/">courageous</a> sister Catherine, who is little known and rarely mentioned in the history of Dior’s life, beyond the naming of his perfume <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliapelloux/2021/11/07/the-house-of-dior-celebrates-catherine-dior-miss-dior/">Miss Dior</a> in her honour in 1947. Throughout the series her fate is emblematic of the French population’s experience of occupation, and is depicted as the driving force of Dior’s dedication to couture.</p>
<h2>French fashion during wartime</h2>
<p>In June 1940, Nazi forces took control of northern and western France and its textile industry. By November 1942 the remainder of southern and eastern France fell to the German army.</p>
<p>Prior to the occupation, many non-French designers, such as Elsa Schiaparelli, left the country for London, New York and Los Angeles in anticipation of war. Once Nazi forces invaded, Paris and its international fashion markets were effectively cut off from the rest of the world.</p>
<p>The couturier Lucien Lelong occupies an important place in the series as Dior’s supportive employer – although much more could have been made of the key role he played in keeping Parisian couture open for business. “Creation cannot stop the bullets but creation is our way forward”, the character states. True to his word, as war raged, Lelong employed some of the most successful post-war designers in his atelier including Dior, Pierre Balmain and Hubert de Givenchy.</p>
<p>Lelong was elected president of the prestigious <a href="https://www.fhcm.paris/en/our-history">Chambre Syndicale de la Couture</a> in 1937, and <a href="http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/Le-Ma/Lelong-Lucien.html">faced down threats</a> from the Nazis to move the entire couture industry to Berlin and Vienna. He negotiated, persuaded and outmanoeuvred the Germans throughout the war by insisting that couture – and the domestic textile industry it depended on – was uniquely French and therefore could not be replicated elsewhere. </p>
<p>The couture industry experienced severe rationing of fabric. But the series successfully demonstrates that Paris fashion <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/paris-fashion-and-world-war-two-9781350000261/">continued</a> with determination and innovation. As fashion designers were forced to limit the amount of material they used, unnecessary decorative additions such as ruffles and pockets became expendable. Instead, wartime couturiers turned to embroidery and beading for decoration – trends that continue to characterise haute couture today.</p>
<h2>The rival ‘American look’</h2>
<p>With the end of the war and freedom from Nazi occupation, Paris fashion was in a fight for its life. Its biggest rival was the American <a href="https://fashionunited.uk/news/background/the-contrast-between-haute-couture-and-ready-to-wear/2023063070291">ready-to-wear</a> apparel industry, an aspect of the story this new series dramatises to great effect.</p>
<p>Though the American industry also faced fabric rationing during the second world war, it was not occupied, and the restrictions weren’t as debilitating. While Asian silks and Italian wools were no longer available, good American cotton was plentiful.</p>
<p>A new generation of American designers came into their own with a homegrown design aesthetic. In 1945 <a href="https://sova.si.edu/record/nmah.ac.0631">Dorothy Shaver</a>, vice-president of the luxury retailer <a href="https://www.retaildive.com/news/a-look-back-at-the-long-history-of-lord-taylor/583823/">Lord & Taylor</a>, developed a marketing campaign around the phrase “<a href="https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/fspc_00208_1#abstract_content">the American look</a>”. This successfully encouraged American women to remember their roots and not return to the collections of the newly liberated Paris fashion houses.</p>
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<h2>Dior’s beacon of hope</h2>
<p>Dior’s 1947 <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/christian-dior-the-new-look-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art/kwWhkHJ-Ok8UIg?hl=en">Carolle collection</a>, was renamed the “new look” at first viewing by American fashion editor Carmel Snow. Snow claimed it represented the creation of a new femininity – which Dior would later call “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Golden_Age_of_Couture.html?id=KrSljgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">the golden age of couture</a>”.</p>
<p>It stood in stark contrast to the austerity wardrobes of wartime Europe and America – wardrobes millions of women around the world would continue to wear in everyday creative adaptations and alterations for years to come.</p>
<p>In my view, leaving the proper substance of the new look story until episode eight of a ten-part series suggests a lack of balance, and makes the title of the drama feel a little misleading. Despite the voice-over in the trailer saying so, Dior’s new look did not reinvent fashion. Rather, it celebrated the end of the grim years of wartime trauma, misery and lack.</p>
<p>What Dior did through his collection was usher in a sense of optimism that women could once again enjoy the pleasure of pretty, feminine clothing that reflected individuality and joy. While the rationing of food, fabric and everyday essentials continued into the 1950s, this new look offered an exhausted Europe the sense that life would begin once more.</p>
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<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223156/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Kealy-Morris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
After the ravages of war, Christian Dior’s groundbreaking 1947 collection of supremely feminine designs signalled a sense of leaving the dark days behind.
Elizabeth Kealy-Morris, Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Dress and Belonging, Manchester Fashion Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222528
2024-02-02T16:25:30Z
2024-02-02T16:25:30Z
Disney’s Cristóbal Balenciaga reveals the power, the politics and the drama of high fashion
<p>Born in a small Basque fishing village on the northern coast of Spain at the end of the 19th century, <a href="https://www.cristobalbalenciagamuseoa.com/en/discover/cristobal-balenciaga/">Cristóbal Balenciaga</a> (1895-1972) went on to become one of the most innovative and influential fashion designers of the 20th century – and the king of fashion in Paris.</p>
<p>His dedication to the craft of dressmaking and tailoring was fostered by his seamstress mother and acknowledged by local Spanish aristocracy who recognised his talents. A marquesa’s patronage led to a tailoring apprenticeship in San Sebastián, where he opened his first dressmaking business in 1919 at the age of 24, and later an atelier in Madrid.</p>
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<span class="caption">Cristóbal Balenciaga.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crist%C3%B3bal_Balenciaga#/media/File:Cristobal_Balenciaga.jpg">Louise Dahl-Wolfe, 1950 / WIkipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>His faultless fit and exceptional skills in cutting, assembling, constructing and sewing garments by hand would earn him a uniquely respected position within the high-fashion world of Paris, where he opened his <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199891573.001.0001/acref-9780199891573-e-4043#:%7E:text=maison%20noun,-Source%3A%20The%20Oxford&text=M16%20French.In%20France%20and,General%20Links%20for%20this%20Work">maison</a> in 1937.</p>
<p>Balenciaga’s life and work are currently being explored in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/jan/19/cristobal-balenciaga-review-this-classy-drama-is-utterly-gorgeous">six-part Spanish biographical drama</a> on <a href="https://press.disney.co.uk/news/original-drama-series-crist%C3%B3bal-balenciaga-will-debut-january-19-exclusively-on-disney+-in-the-uk#:%7E:text=%22Crist%C3%B3bal%20Balenciaga%22%20begins%20as%20the,the%20Spanish%20elite%20and%20aristocracy.">Disney+</a>. The series details the story of the man who became known as “the master” of <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/education/fashion-az/haute-couture">haute-couture</a> fashion for his innovative womenswear designs and distinctive use of textiles during his years in Paris, from 1937 to 1968.</p>
<p>The new Disney series stars Alberto San Juan as Balenciaga and is structured around the designer recalling the events of his life and career during a rare interview in 1971 with the Times’ fashion editor Prudence Glynn (Gemma Whelan).</p>
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<h2>Fashion for a post-war world</h2>
<p>We meet Balenciaga in 1937, a year after accepting the coveted elite status of “couturier”, conferred by the exacting standards of the <a href="https://www.fhcm.paris/en/our-history">Chambre Syndicale de la couture Parisienne</a>. Balenciaga’s tailoring and dressmaking skills, as well as his innovative designs, were crucial to the success and lasting impact of mid-20th century haute couture – a fact that is carefully portrayed in the series.</p>
<p>While artistic licence embellishes intimate and emotional moments in the series, it is broadly historically accurate, including the relationships and rivalries between fellow couturiers <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/coco-chanel-biography">Coco Channel</a> (Anouk Grinberg), <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/christian-dior">Christian Dior</a> (Patrice Thibaud) and the mentorship of <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/hubert-de-givenchy-biography">Hubert de Givenchy</a> (Adrien Dewitte). </p>
<p>In episode two – The Occupation – when Balenciaga’s nervous investor visits Chanel to ask if the designer can succeed in Parisian high fashion, her famous response is resounding: “Cristóbal is the only authentic couturier amongst us. The rest, we are simply just fashion designers.”</p>
<p>The series follows the turbulent political and economic times for fashion in the mid-20th century. Designers had to protect their reputations and creative integrity from invading armies and corporate spies. Meanwhile, artisanal couture traditions of fashion design had to contend with the rise and expansion of the mass manufacturing of <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/ready-to-wear-fashion-guide">prêt-à-porter</a> (ready-to-wear) fashion.</p>
<p>An exciting element of Balenciaga’s influence within couture was his inspired use of Spanish traditional dress and Catholic vestments and regalia, which he incorporated into his collections.</p>
<p>During episodes one and two we watch him struggle to define his maison’s style until he revisits his historic art and costume books to seek inspiration. This engagement with the <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/memories-of-dress-9781350153813/">cultural memory of dress</a>, reveals there is authenticity, meaning and depth to his creations that emerge from his Spanish roots.</p>
<p>Christian Dior famously referred to Balenciaga as “the master of us all”, and the Spaniard was admired for his technical genius and innovation by fashion journalists, critics, clients, employees and his peers within haute-couture circles.</p>
<p>The emerging prêt-à-porter designers, many of whom he mentored, carried his design principles into their luxury mass-manufactured clothing lines, including Givenchy, <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/remembering-andre-courreges">André Courrèges</a> and <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/emanuel-ungaro-biography">Emanuel Ungaro</a>. </p>
<h2>Industry and passion</h2>
<p>This is a series written, directed and art-directed by those who respect the place of ideas, skill and innovation within the practice of making designed objects. Balenciaga’s magic is grounded in driven, tireless dedication to an art form. Everywhere we see hands, tools, textiles manipulated, cut, folded, sewn, adjusted, and eventually formed on a body ready to be seen and, ultimately, sold.</p>
<p>This is an exceptional aspect of this series, and a joy to see. In the final episode – I am Balenciaga – the Spaniard grapples with the future of couture and his maison against a booming background of prêt-à-porter. He realises one of his options is to retire and pass on the reins to a trusted collaborator. However, he states: “It wasn’t just a business, it was part of me, like an extension of my body. How can a body survive without a brain?”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572950/original/file-20240201-25-lvdvbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman wearing a black suit with flared bell sleeves and knee-length skirt sitting on a plinth with her right hand raised and pressed against the wall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572950/original/file-20240201-25-lvdvbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572950/original/file-20240201-25-lvdvbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572950/original/file-20240201-25-lvdvbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572950/original/file-20240201-25-lvdvbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572950/original/file-20240201-25-lvdvbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572950/original/file-20240201-25-lvdvbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572950/original/file-20240201-25-lvdvbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cristóbal Balenciaga vintage suit, 1951.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/51248231@N04/4711015713">Bianca Lee / flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another interesting aspect of the series is the growing power of the media to influence the pace of change within fashion markets. An important character throughout the series is <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a92/bazaar-140-0507/">Carmel Snow</a> (Gabrielle Lazure), the fashion chief of the American edition of the highly influential lifestyle magazine <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/">Harper’s Bazaar</a>. Snow had the power to make or break the fortunes of even the greatest of couturiers for, without magazine exposure, there would be no customer interest, nor orders. </p>
<p>Interestingly, episode four – Replicas – shows the start of the debate for the current systems of <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/article/history-of-paris-fashion-week">biannual fashion weeks</a>, in order to limit press access to regular intimate couture shows at maisons for fear of copies and counterfeits emerging.</p>
<p>This series is highly recommended and stands as an important piece of dramatised fashion history. As what we wear is a facet of our identity, fashion is at the heart of both everyday and extraordinary events. This series is testament that designing, making and promoting dress will always involve passion and drama.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222528/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Kealy-Morris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The new drama provides a fascinating insight into the competitive world of mid-century haute couture via the man considered ‘the master’ of high fashion.
Elizabeth Kealy-Morris, Senior Lecturer in Dress and Belonging, Manchester Fashion Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/219328
2023-12-21T00:27:53Z
2023-12-21T00:27:53Z
A brief look at the long history of First Nations fashion design in Australia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565094/original/file-20231212-17-eznnko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5982%2C3961&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Aboriginal Display at the Brisbane Exhibition, 1914. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collections.slq.qld.gov.au/viewer/IE16333">State Library of Queensland</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, and links to old newspaper stories and research papers using outdated and potentially offensive terminology.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The ABC’s series <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/way-we-wore">The Way We Wore</a> takes a look at stories of Australian fashion design and style. </p>
<p>First Nations people participated in the series and spoke about various periods and tales, looking at forced clothing policies during the Stolen Generation period, the contribution of Flinders Ranges/Adnyamathanha knowledge to the creation of the RM Williams iconic boot, and the emergence of First Nations fashion design from the 1970s and at Parisian fashion shows in the 1980s.</p>
<p>Yet, left out from the show was the rich backstory of our First Nations fashion design industry.</p>
<p>Prior to Parisian fashion shows, First Nations people showcased handmade clothing and accessories at 1800s international and national exhibitions, often as unpaid labour.</p>
<p>Earlier still, the making and crafting of animal and plant cloaks, skirts, belts, shoes and accessories were the original fashion designs.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-designers-and-models-of-this-world-attending-the-2023-national-indigenous-fashion-awards-211517">‘The first designers and models of this world’: attending the 2023 National Indigenous Fashion Awards</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Traditional clothing and adornment</h2>
<p>Climates, materials and stories guided traditional fashion design. </p>
<p>Items were crafted from natural materials that eventually returned to the environment.</p>
<p><a href="https://library.museum.wa.gov.au/fullRecord.jsp?recno=50097">Footwear</a> was made from animal skins, furs, and feathers, human hair and bark.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565097/original/file-20231212-28-x080ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565097/original/file-20231212-28-x080ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565097/original/file-20231212-28-x080ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565097/original/file-20231212-28-x080ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565097/original/file-20231212-28-x080ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565097/original/file-20231212-28-x080ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565097/original/file-20231212-28-x080ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565097/original/file-20231212-28-x080ps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Group outside a bark shelter with possum skin cloaks in Victoria, photographed between 1860-1909.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/Yj7deGl9/mmlrxexxkGjo">State Library of New South Wales</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cloaks were made from <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-designers-can-learn-from-aboriginal-possum-skin-cloaks-38655">animal skin</a> and <a href="https://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?c=5946&mode=singleImage">plants</a>, often inscribed with designs that reflected a person’s identity. </p>
<p>Intricate jewellery and accessories included <a href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/184838">head ornaments</a>, <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/collection/highlights/tasmanian-aboriginal-shell-necklaces">necklaces</a>, <a href="https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/death-the-last-taboo/mourning-indigenous-australia/">mourning caps</a>, <a href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/171926">belts</a> and <a href="https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/181154">bags</a>, some made from <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-22/pearls-and-pear-shell-in-indigenous-culture/10772586">highly traded pearl shells</a> and <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/more-than-jewellery-ancient-shell-stringing-remains-an-unbroken-tradition/2ccs8598f">rare seashells</a>. </p>
<p>Today, we are seeing a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-29/indigenous-possum-skin-cloak-culture-and-history/101739174">resurgence around the country</a> of these adornments and the role they play in healing, wellbeing and cultural practice.</p>
<h2>Showcasing at trades and exhibitions</h2>
<p>First Nations women and girls who lived on reserves, missions and schools were forced to learn sewing and many produced goods including hats, bags, baskets, jewellery and rugs. </p>
<p>These items were crafted from cultural or Western methods, using both traditional or introduced materials. </p>
<p>From the mid-1800s, their work was often produced for various tourist trades and national and international exhibitions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565098/original/file-20231212-23-1bwxdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565098/original/file-20231212-23-1bwxdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565098/original/file-20231212-23-1bwxdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565098/original/file-20231212-23-1bwxdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565098/original/file-20231212-23-1bwxdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565098/original/file-20231212-23-1bwxdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565098/original/file-20231212-23-1bwxdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565098/original/file-20231212-23-1bwxdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Aboriginal Court at the Brisbane Exhibition, 1914.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collections.slq.qld.gov.au/viewer/IE2813548">State Library of Queensland</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One Melbourne CBD shop stocked woven baskets and bags from Victoria’s <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/coranderrk">Coranderrk Reserve</a>. </p>
<p>Sydney’s <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/audio/indigenous-participation-in-australian-economies-conference/transcripts/the-economy-of-shells-a-histo">La Perouse Mission</a> sold shell baskets in the city and later exhibited them at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and in London. </p>
<p>At the 1888 Melbourne Exhibition, the Queensland section presented <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146795056">pearl jewellery</a> from Thursday Island and the Torres Strait.</p>
<p>While some of the women and girls from these institutions received pay for their work, <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UTSLRS/2013/14.pdf">many did not</a>.</p>
<h2>Emergence of fashion within the craft industry</h2>
<p>From the 1930s, non-Indigenous textile artists and fashion designers started producing <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page26384333">First Nations-inspired designs</a> using motifs such as boomerangs, shields and “hunting stick figures”, without the permission or input from First Nations artists.</p>
<p>Partly in response to this popularity, craft centres within the missions and reserves established their own industry and several hired First Nations people to design cultural textiles and fashions. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CtIgKGhBhxb/?hl=en","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Some of this early work in the 1940s included <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230948830">bags with traditional weaving styles</a>, <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page26672951">practical linens with cultural designs</a> and unique <a href="https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/116107?mode=simple">Ernabella scarves</a>.</p>
<p>As the newspaper <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230948830">The Sun reported</a> from the Mount Margaret Mission in 1941:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One of the most interesting exhibits in the exhibition of Aboriginal handicrafts and school children’s work at the Y.W.C.A. to-day is a bag woven from wool in a native stitch. It has been adapted from old aboriginal work which is usually seen only in tribal grass weaving.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Children’s work from these institutions were often exhibited in Australia and internationally. There was particular overseas interest in turning art from the Carrolup Native settlement onto textiles <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159008807">for fashion garments</a>.</p>
<h2>The business of First Nations textiles and fashion</h2>
<p>Economic and cultural autonomy became more attainable for First Nations people from the 1950s.</p>
<p>Bill Onus produced <a href="https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p170581/pdf/ch0751.pdf">cultural furnishing fabrics</a> with non-Indigenous artist Paula Kerry for his Melbourne Aboriginal Enterprises store.</p>
<p>First Nations women from the Coffs Harbour area started <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files//digitised_collections/dawn_index/v16/s09/3.pdf">mass-producing fashions for the tourist trade</a> using non-Indigenous designs in the mid-1960s.</p>
<p>By the late 1960s, First Nations designed textiles became a fully-fledged fashion industry.</p>
<p>In 1969, Tiwi Island clothing production and textiles had launched through <a href="https://bimawear.com/about-bima-wear/">Bima Wear</a> and <a href="https://tiwidesigns.com/pages/about-us">Tiwi Designs</a>. </p>
<p>A few years later, <a href="http://archive.maas.museum/hsc/paperbark/contemporary.html">other arts centres</a> started crafting textiles for fashion designs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565104/original/file-20231212-19-ncjzuv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565104/original/file-20231212-19-ncjzuv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565104/original/file-20231212-19-ncjzuv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565104/original/file-20231212-19-ncjzuv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565104/original/file-20231212-19-ncjzuv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565104/original/file-20231212-19-ncjzuv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565104/original/file-20231212-19-ncjzuv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565104/original/file-20231212-19-ncjzuv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tiwi (Aboriginal) fashion designs, 1979.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=11693062">© Commonwealth of Australia (National Archives of Australia) 2023.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throughout the 1970s, fashion shows <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page12380699">paraded these textiles</a> and some First Nations people <a href="https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=11695949">wore the designs</a> at formal events.</p>
<p>Bronwyn Bancroft, the owner of the Sydney store Designer Aboriginals, and Euphemia Bostock and Mini Heath <a href="https://www.bronwynbancroft.com/history?pgid=kddvaeao-d276a7d8-aa23-4ddc-a389-c95ee6525f73">presented their garments</a> at the Parisian Au Printemps Department Store in 1987.</p>
<h2>The 21st Century and beyond</h2>
<p>By the start of the new millennium, Robyn Caughlan, in <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/robyn-has-fashion-game-all-sewn-up-20030426-gdgnsm.html">collaboration with Benjamin Mach</a>, was the <a href="https://www.robyncaughlan.com/fashion-designs">first Indigenous designer</a> to contribute to a fashion collection at Australian Fashion Week. </p>
<p>Two decades later at Australian Fashion Week 2023, Denni Francisco’s brand Ngali was the <a href="https://harpersbazaar.com.au/ngali-murriyang-aafw-2023/">first Indigenous label</a> to present a standalone collection.</p>
<p>Today, many First Nations labels promote their designs internationally in <a href="https://nit.com.au/02-10-2023/7916/indigenous-fashion-label-ticia-designs-makes-international-debut-in-paris">Paris</a>, <a href="https://nit.com.au/14-12-2020/1632/indigenous-couture-to-grace-milan-runway">Milan</a>, <a href="https://www.vogue.com.au/fashion/news/an-historic-showcase-of-australian-first-nations-design-at-london-fashion-week/news-story/df1a1343a0987e81cf2441ee619f98cc">London</a>, and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-09/indigenous-fashion-designers-set-sights-on-overseas-markets/101222846">New York</a>. There are now several First Nations fashion bodies to support them in the industry. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CLQoNhwhlqX","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>These bodies connect with national and international fashion weeks and art fairs, and have insight into cultural appropriation and Intellectual Property Rights.</p>
<p>For First Nations people, fashion and style are significant channels through which culture, identity, healing and social change can be communicated and practised. </p>
<p>Learning about the foundation of First Nations fashion design is vital to understanding Australian history and advocating connection, wellbeing, expression and sustainability.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cultural-expression-through-dress-towards-a-definition-of-first-nations-fashion-201782">‘Cultural expression through dress’: towards a definition of First Nations fashion</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219328/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Treena Clark has received funding through the University of Technology Sydney Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellowship scheme.</span></em></p>
First Nations people have been making and crafting clothes and accessories for millennia, and for international exhibitions for hundreds of years.
Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215831
2023-12-12T15:55:38Z
2023-12-12T15:55:38Z
Four ways to tell the designer fashion items worth investing in from the ones that aren’t
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558674/original/file-20231109-25-at9skm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5928%2C3925&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-asian-woman-shopping-mall-2230065531">Qtran88/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether it’s aspiring to the “quiet luxury” or <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-clean-girl-and-old-money-aesthetics-on-tiktok-make-the-same-old-link-between-hygiene-and-class-208566">“old money” looks</a> taking over TikTok, or cringing at the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/far-from-the-ludicrously-capacious-what-the-fashion-of-succession-tells-us-about-the-show-and-about-society-202744">ludicrously capacious bag</a>” scene in the last season of Succession, designer clothes and accessories have been a hot topic in 2023. But with continued sales growth in <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion">designer fashion</a>, and concerns about shopping more <a href="https://fashionunited.uk/news/retail/consumers-want-to-shop-sustainably-what-are-the-opportunities-for-brands/2022102465829">sustainably</a>, it’s worth considering investing your money in products that will last longer.</p>
<p>Sales in luxury fashion have increased significantly since the pandemic. <a href="https://www.just-style.com/features/covid-two-years-on-expert-analysis-of-top-10-global-apparel-companies/?cf-view">Louis Vuitton</a>, for example, has increased its sales from 2019. And British luxury brand, Burberry, reported sales growth to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/16/burberry-sales-return-to-pre-pandemic-levels-as-younger-shoppers-splash-out">86% higher</a> in the year following the pandemic (though there has been <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/burberry-shares-take-10-hit-on-warning-of-slump-in-luxury-demand-13009401">another dip in sales</a> more recently). </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.limitlessmanufacturinggroup.com/blog/the-rise-of-athleisure-how-activewear-became-mainstream-fashion">rise of athleisure</a> in fashion and designer collaborations such as <a href="https://www.manoloblahnik.com/gb/the-latest/post/manolo-blahnik-for-birkenstock">Manolo Blahnik for Birkenstock</a>, <a href="https://www.gucci.com/uk/en_gb/st/capsule/adidas-gucci">Gucci x Adidas</a> and <a href="https://uk.burberry.com/c/collaborations-supreme-burberry/">Burberry x Supreme</a> have made luxury more available. But prices are still high, so how can you know whether a purchase will stand the test of time and become an investment piece or a fashion flop? Here are four key factors to consider when making a designer purchase.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/four-environmental-red-flags-to-watch-out-for-when-buying-your-new-home-215763utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Four environmental red flags to watch out for when buying your new home</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-know-if-your-employer-is-serious-about-helping-you-find-purpose-in-your-work-205102utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">How to know if your employer is serious about helping you find purpose in your work</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-so-hard-to-be-young-in-britain-right-now-213002utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Why it’s so hard to be young in Britain right now</a></em></p>
<hr>
<h2>1. Resale value</h2>
<p>An expensive purchase price may not guarantee that your product will hold its value. A key factor to consider is what the resale value of your purchase will be, as this will indicate the item’s investment potential.</p>
<p>A fashion investment piece tends to be a luxury product with a higher price ticket. Prices of luxury fashion have increased over the last decade. Chanel bags, for example, have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2022/02/21/luxury-brand-prices-rise-sharply--will-it-cut-demand/">almost doubled</a> in price. Chanel’s iconic medium flap bag has increased from <a href="https://luxecollectivefashion.com/blogs/communique/your-expert-guide-to-the-chanel-price-increases-2023">£7,550 in 2022 to £8,530 in 2023</a> and is considered to be one of the most covetable designs in the <a href="https://www.whowhatwear.co.uk/best-luxury-handbags-resale-value/slide2">resale market</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Orange Birkin bag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558676/original/file-20231109-17-olg7k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558676/original/file-20231109-17-olg7k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558676/original/file-20231109-17-olg7k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558676/original/file-20231109-17-olg7k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558676/original/file-20231109-17-olg7k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558676/original/file-20231109-17-olg7k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558676/original/file-20231109-17-olg7k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Hermes Ostrich Birkin bag.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkin_bag#/media/File:Hermes_Ostrich_Birkin_Bag.jpg">Wen-Cheng Liu/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, Hermès’ famous Birkin and Kelly bag designs, renowned for their quality, are <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/hermes-bag-review-2022-birkin-bag-and-hermes-kelly-bag-remain-most-popular">undoubtedly investment pieces</a>. Despite the high price ticket, <a href="https://www.whowhatwear.co.uk/birkin-bag-prices/slide2">Birkin bags are in demand</a>. They are the most collectable and classic of designer bags, with an average retail price of USD$10,000 (£8,237), <a href="https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3211640/why-hermes-birkin-bag-such-good-investment-according-experts-other-luxury-handbags-might-not-be">which can double in the resale market</a>.</p>
<p>Luxury fashion <a href="https://www.pursebop.com/new-app-calculates-the-resale-value-of-designer-handbags/">resaler Vestiaire</a>, along with online marketplaces like eBay, are useful sources for researching and calculating what the value of your purchase will be in the resale market. While designer bags can hold their value post-purchase, <a href="https://www.yourmoney.com/investing/can-clothing-ever-be-considered-an-investment/">clothes can be less straightforward</a> and will depend on the other following factors.</p>
<h2>2. Quality and style</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/marketing-at-scale-explaining-luxurys-new-brand-identifiers">2023 report</a> has stated that the overt use of logos in recent years, from brands such as <a href="https://www.surefront.com/blog/is-logomania-really-over">Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton</a>, has been replaced by an interest in quiet luxury. </p>
<p>Quiet luxury means <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quiet-luxury-explained-which-brands-will-benefit-2023-4?r=US&IR=T">more simplistic, classic and timeless styling</a>. The focus on exquisite fabrics and design gives a sense of fashion that is not disposable and durable. A cashmere sweater from <a href="https://uk.loropiana.com/en/c/woman/knitwear">Lorna Piana</a> may cost over £1,700 but its quality and classic styling will ensure it’s an investment piece that transcends fashion trend cycle.</p>
<p>Consideration of fabrics, styling and design aesthetic are all key in ensuring your fashion investment has longevity.</p>
<h2>3. Brand authenticity</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303917660_The_Role_of_Heritage_and_Authenticity_in_the_Value_Creation_of_Fashion_Brand">Heritage and authenticity</a> can secure the value of fashion purchases. Brands that have a strong heritage – that have been around and respected for a long time – are better investment pieces, <a href="https://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/luxury-fashion-heritage-chanel-dior1234792018-1234792018/">particularly in the categories of watches, jewellery and handbags</a>. Rolex watches are renowned as investment pieces, with models that are most rare commanding the higher appreciation values.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man holding a Rolex watch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558677/original/file-20231109-17-79jnnu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558677/original/file-20231109-17-79jnnu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558677/original/file-20231109-17-79jnnu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558677/original/file-20231109-17-79jnnu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558677/original/file-20231109-17-79jnnu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558677/original/file-20231109-17-79jnnu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558677/original/file-20231109-17-79jnnu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rolex watches are renowned as investment pieces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rolex-wristwatch-model-cosmograph-daytona-oyster-2143137997">Enjoy The Life/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the realm of clothing, Burberry’s iconic trench coat – which has remained largely untouched in design terms for over 100 years – has been reported to be a good wardrobe investment by <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/burberry-trench-coats">Vogue</a>. The trench’s timeless design, alongside its long history, has secured its place as an investment product. </p>
<p>However, when it comes to making the purchase it is important to go with <a href="https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/burberry-trench-coat/">Burberry’s original design</a>, rather than the fashion-led versions whose value may diminish as seasonal trends move on.</p>
<h2>4. Product endorsement</h2>
<p>Celebrity endorsement is a popular brand strategy for increasing the value of fashion products. While it may drive sales, it is important to consider what effect it will have on investment quality. </p>
<p>A recent example was when the British pop star <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4089170/">Harry Styles</a> wore the <a href="https://harpersbazaar.com.au/adidas-gucci-collaboration-collection/">luxe Adidas x Gucci Gazelle trainers</a>, during his 2023 tour, resulting in a <a href="https://www.sneakerfreaker.com/news/harry-styles-gucci-adidas-gazelle-samba-statistics?page=0">reported 100%</a> increase in sales of the trainer. </p>
<p>While sneakers have previously had a bouyant <a href="https://www.fashionbeans.com/article/sneaker-reselling-guide/">resale market</a>, that is now <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/has-the-sneaker-bubble-finally-burst">declining</a>, raising questions as to whether they will continue to be positive investment pieces. Celebrities may create hype – but their endorsement does not always ensure the longevity of a product’s value.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1634190779466891265"}"></div></p>
<p>In 1999, <a href="https://hypebae.com/2018/10/dior-saddle-bag-history-john-galliano">Dior’s saddle bag</a> was featured on US TV series <a href="https://www.hbo.com/sex-and-the-city">Sex and the City</a>, securing its place as an <a href="https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/mbxjmn/dior-saddle-bag-sex-in-the-city">iconic designer bag</a>. While this increased its value and desirability at the time, the bag eventually faded from view, until 2018, when Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s current design director, relaunched it. This resulted in a frenzy of interest <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/a42118540/dior-saddle-bag/">in the original Galliano designs</a>.</p>
<p>Endorsement creates hype and desirability, but occasionally it can also create a classic too. But this takes time, and it’s best to consider other factors including brand authenticity, quality and style when planning an investment purchase. </p>
<p>Also, value does not always have to have a price attributed to it. In the world of designer fashion, it is important not to overlook the significance of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/oct/13/fashion-thats-begging-for-love-designers-want-to-create-meaningful-stuff">emotional durability</a> of our purchases and how that can ensure an enduring value and longevity.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215831/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi Braithwaite does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
An expensive purchase price may not guarantee that your product will hold its value.
Naomi Braithwaite, Associate Professor in Fashion Marketing and Branding, Nottingham Trent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/213579
2023-09-15T09:45:04Z
2023-09-15T09:45:04Z
As Sarah Burton leaves Alexander McQueen, an expert explores her legacy through five iconic designs
<p>Sarah Burton, the creative director for <a href="https://www.alexandermcqueen.com/en-gb">Alexander McQueen</a>, has announced that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/sep/11/sarah-burton-to-leave-alexander-mcqueen-fashion-house-after-two-decades">she is leaving</a> the fashion house after two decades. The spring/summer 2024 collection, launching at Paris Fashion Week on September 30, will be her last. </p>
<p>Burton, born in Macclesfield, initially <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/sarah-burton">joined McQueen in 1996</a> as a placement student, while studying at Central Saint Martins in London. Following her graduation, Burton took up a permanent post, becoming <a href="https://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/sarah-burton-exits-alexander-mcqueen-creative-director">head of womenswear design in 2000</a>. After <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/28/alexander-mcqueen-suicide-verdict-inquest">Lee Alexander McQueen’s tragic death in 2010</a>, Burton became his successor as creative director.</p>
<p>During her <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/style/sarah-burton-alexander-mcqueen.html">26 years at McQueen</a> Burton has made a <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/sarah-burton-leaving-alexander-mcqueen">significant contribution</a> to both the fashion industry and to the legacy of the fashion house. In 2012 she <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/sarah-burton-receives-obe-from-the-queen">received an OBE</a> for services to the fashion industry. These are five of her most celebrated designs.</p>
<h2>1. Kate Middleton’s wedding dress, 2011</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/kate-middleton-alexander-mcqueen-sarah-burton-creative-director-leaving-wedding-dress-b1106493.html">The V-neck, ivory lace dress with a nine-foot train</a> that Burton created for the marriage of Kate Middleton and Prince William was one of her earlier designs as McQueen’s creative director.</p>
<p>Middleton chose Alexander McQueen to design her dress because of <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/kate-middleton-wedding-dress">its reputation</a> for craftsmanship, traditional workmanship and attention to the technical construction of clothing. Hand cut from both English and French Chantilly lace, the dress was handmade at the <a href="https://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/sarah-burton-does-kates-dress-3596041/">Royal School of Needlework</a> at Hampton Court Palace and reportedly cost <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/1158770/kate-middleton-meghan-markle-news-dress-wedding-cost-royal-fund-latest-pictures">£250,000</a> to make. </p>
<p>Burton’s design included a <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/08/kate-middleton-wedding-dress#:%7E:text=Much%20credit%20could%20be%20given%20to%20then%20Kate,signified%20the%20monarchy%E2%80%99s%20next%20era%20to%20the%20world.">floral motif that commemorated Great Britain</a>. It is believed that <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/kate-middleton-wedding-dress">seamstresses working on the dress</a> had to wash their hands every 30 minutes to ensure it was kept clean and that the needles they were using were replaced every three hours.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Kate Middleton arrives at Westminster Abbey wearing Sarah Burton’s design.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The choice of designer remained a secret until the day of the wedding. Following the royal wedding, sales at Alexander McQueen reportedly increased by <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sarah-burton-leaves-alexander-mcqueen-112658016.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANCNLOEAwKUYEdMB-KgTBa1bw3D9BV2E94qx8yBWs2THJHQaT81tZSn9XYNADcamVHwJViXr9R6vByNsC-3kIWuB4ICLiLBDuTjogZ0_HV2hXN9JOFUjmqaMQn0qG2XBeC677fD5euc4D2AhO9EGjWCVJ5ZRMCjDgkmQZFUp6yoX">29%</a>.</p>
<p>Over a decade later, the design continues to <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20210504128128/how-kate-middletons-royal-wedding-dress-impacted-bridal-trends/">influence bridal dress trends</a>, with celebrity taste-makers <a href="https://www.capitalxtra.com/artists/kanye-west/lists/kim-kardashian-wedding-photos/kissing-alter/">like Kim Kardashian</a> favouring a long sleeved lace gown, similar to the Burton design. </p>
<p>It is not only the significance of the occasion and the wearer that ensures the longevity of this dress’s iconic status. Its artistry reflects the creativity of Burton and her passion for <a href="https://people.com/style/sarah-burton-opens-up-about-the-royal-wedding-dress-and-creating-her-own-mcqueen-legacy/">craftsmanship, storytelling and romance</a>, while ensuring the legacy of Lee Alexander McQueen. Burton herself has stated that while legacy can sometimes be seen as curse it is also a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/t-magazine/alexander-mcqueen-sarah-burton-interview.html">“wonderful opportunity for invention”</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Gisele Bündchen at the Met Gala, 2011</h2>
<p>During her tenure, Burton has been responsible for the creation of many memorable designs <a href="https://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/sarah-burton-alexander-mcqueen-celebrity-fashion-red-carpet">worn by celebrities</a> for events such as the Met Gala and the Oscars.</p>
<p>Burton dressed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2011/may/03/mcqueen-red-carpet-met-ball">Gisele Bündchen</a> – a top supermodel of the 1990s and 2000s who often walked McQueen’s runway shows – for the Met Gala. The red, dropped waist gown paid tribute to Lee Alexander McQueen, referencing his passion for tailoring and drama with the cascading skirt.</p>
<p>The theme of the 2011 Met Gala, Savage Beauty, was inspired by the Alexander McQueen exhibition at <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles/2021/5/alexander-mcqueen-savage-beauty">The Costume Institute</a> in New York. Paying homage to McQueen, attendees reflected upon his <a href="https://www.bustle.com/style/met-gala-themes-through-the-years-from-camp-to-americana">unorthodox genius</a>. In 2015, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5542d3fee4b0bacdbd74bf7b/gisele-bundchen-2011/">Forbes</a> named Burton’s dress for Bündchen as one of the most unforgettable Met Gala dresses of all time.</p>
<h2>3. Nicole Kidman at the Met Gala, 2016</h2>
<p>The theme for the 2016 gala was <a href="https://stylecaster.com/fashion/celebrity-looks/1263600/met-gala-themes/#slide-4">Manus X Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology</a>. Burton’s design for Nicole Kidman was an <a href="https://wwd.com/pop-culture/celebrity-news/sarah-burton-alexander-mcqueen-designs-1235801125/">art deco-inspired celestial gown</a> that had been adapted from the 2016 runway collection. </p>
<p>The design included a sheer <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/style/nicole-kidmans-met-gala-2016-888284/#!">cape</a> which showcased the designer’s skill in embroidery through embellishments of beaded moons and stars. </p>
<p>With its <a href="https://en.vogue.me/archive/celebrities/nicole-kidman-at-the-2016-met-gala-dress-alexander-mcqueen/">geometric shapes</a> and celestial imagery, the dress echoed the work of the art deco artist <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/erte-1066">Erté</a> (1892-1990), reflecting the McQueen label’s interest in <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/alexander-mcqueen-an-introduction">historical references</a>.</p>
<h2>4. Lady Gaga, A Star is Born premiere, 2018</h2>
<p>Lady Gaga is well known for her <a href="https://www.goldderby.com/gallery/lady-gaga-fashion-meat-dress-oscar-looks/lady-gaga-fashion-victorian/">eccentric approach to fashion</a> and she was a great fan, and personal friend, of Lee Alexander McQueen. In 2018, Gaga wowed the crowds at the <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/lady-gaga-elizabethan-alexander-mcqueen-gown">London Premiere to her Star is Born movie</a>. She was dressed in an archival look which had been designed by Burton in 2013. </p>
<p>This extravagant design paid homage to the Elizabethan era with a corseted bodice, pearls, decorative ruff and exaggerated sleeves. Burton’s design showcased the intricate attention to detail and romance that the designer embodied. The 2013 collection was inspired by the <a href="https://fashionunited.in/news/fashion/the-end-of-an-era-at-alexander-mcqueen-sarah-burton-s-legacy-at-a-glance/2023091341535">Anglican Church and each garment took two weeks to make</a>.</p>
<h2>5. Lady Gaga, the Oscars, 2019</h2>
<p>It was a black McQueen dress that Gaga chose to wear to the 2019 Oscars, when she was nominated for <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/lady-gaga-2019-oscar-nominations-best-actress-best-song-a-star-is-born-8494302/#!">best actress and best song for A Star is Born</a>. Burton’s design had an exaggerated silhouette with <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/lady-gaga-academy-awards-2019-tiffany-diamond-alexander-mcqueen">padded hips and a long train</a>, reflecting the designer’s skill for combining tailoring with drama. </p>
<p>Gaga accessorised the McQueen gown with a <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a26395159/lady-gaga-black-dress-oscars-2019/">142-year-old Tiffany diamond</a>, that had only been worn three times and was <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1008503/lady-gaga-makes-oscars-history-with-a-30-million-necklace#:%7E:text=Oscars%202019%3A%20Best%20Dressed%20Stars%20The%20actress%20turned,McQueen%20black%20strapless%20ball%20gown%20and%20leather%20gloves.">worth USD$30 million</a> (£24 million).</p>
<p>Burton’s departure from McQueen comes as the label’s parent company, the French luxury goods group Kering SA, is <a href="https://fashionunited.in/news/fashion/the-end-of-an-era-at-alexander-mcqueen-sarah-burton-s-legacy-at-a-glance/2023091341535">restructuring</a>. What the future may hold for Burton is unknown, although there is some speculation that she may <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/news/sarah-burton-leaving-alexander-mcqueen/">start her own label</a>. </p>
<p>Burton’s iconic designs and creative flair will leave a lasting imprint on the house of Alexander McQueen, one that its late founder would undoubtedly have been immensely proud of.</p>
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<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213579/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi Braithwaite does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
It was her design of Kate Middleton’s iconic royal wedding dress that brought Sarah Burton into the limelight.
Naomi Braithwaite, Associate Professor in Fashion Marketing and Branding, Nottingham Trent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211517
2023-08-16T20:04:50Z
2023-08-16T20:04:50Z
‘The first designers and models of this world’: attending the 2023 National Indigenous Fashion Awards
<p>The Darwin winter sunset encircled the city with a brilliant gold. As the crowd anticipated the start of the annual Indigenous fashion parades, the room turned dark, and a lone figure appeared. </p>
<p>As the first model walked, the crowd cheered, excited to see the show they had waited a year to attend. </p>
<p>Throughout two shows, Our Legacy and Our Heart, First Nations models of diverse ages and sizes almost outshone the striking garments they wore. </p>
<p>Designs from 22 labels and collaborations represented the heart and soul of the designers, artists and makers, many who journeyed very long distances for the opportunity to tell their stories through fashion design and art.</p>
<p>The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair has concluded for another year with more than 70 exhibitors and a successful fashion program. The Indigenous Fashion Projects festival grows in size and quality every year, showing the potential for First Nations fashion – like art and music – to become defining features of Australian life.</p>
<p>Yet beyond the lights, makeup and action, people in the First Nations fashion industry just want their voices to be heard. They see their contributions to fashion, textile design and modelling as contributing to cultural tradition, economics and cultural sustainability, and blak pride and storytelling. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cultural-expression-through-dress-towards-a-definition-of-first-nations-fashion-201782">‘Cultural expression through dress’: towards a definition of First Nations fashion</a>
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<h2>Cultural tradition</h2>
<p>The day after the parades, the annual National Indigenous Fashion Awards were held in the beautiful open air. This also provided a moving ceremony as we celebrated the work of 66 First Nations artists, designers and collaborators. </p>
<p>Nearly all the winners referred to the ongoing and living cultural traditions that inform their work, generally framed as female and working with and learning from Elders.</p>
<p>“All those old ladies have passed away but they’re still holding us up,” said a representative from <a href="https://ikuntji.com.au/">Ikuntji Artists</a>. “Their spirit is still strong and walks with us. Thanks for loving our designs and stories because we know they’re still here with us.”</p>
<p>Fashion designer of the year, Wiradjuri, Gangulu and Yorta Yorta woman <a href="https://lillardiabriggshouston.com">Lillardia Briggs-Houston</a>, told the audience: “I am what I am because of my grandmother and grandfather.”</p>
<p>Through both textile and art making, First Nations fashion designers are continuing the unbroken chain of practice that has existed since time immemorial. This was seen on textile designs referencing <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvt9LCEvGwt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">animals</a> to the construction of exquisite headpieces and jewellery using <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CvyLuV8hcwn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">shells and stones</a>.</p>
<h2>Economics and cultural sustainability</h2>
<p>Many winners spoke about the economic opportunities afforded by the fashion industry. Selling fashion and textiles supports “money business”, permitting the makers and designers to remain on Country and continue practising culture while taking their work to audiences around Australia.</p>
<p>Economic opportunities are underpinned by cultural sustainability. <a href="https://gapuwiyak.com.au/">Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts</a> with <a href="https://alydegroot.com.au/">Aly de Groot</a> won both the traditional adornment and community collaboration awards for their work in recreating fibre work from an anthropological photograph. They noted how the 19th century women and their work even looked like models lined up on a catwalk.</p>
<p>The need for fashion design and creative training opportunities on Country was emphasised by Briggs-Houston. As she noted, fashion work – pattern cutting, design adjustments, sewing and embellishment – was traditionally women’s work, conducted at home, but no one felt they were a designer, let alone a brand ambassador. </p>
<p>Briggs-Houston studied fashion at TAFE and learnt from her knowledgeable grandmother:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We were always the seamstress but never the designer back then. Now I dedicate my life to cultural sustainability through fashion. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>One challenge facing emerging First Nations designers is access. The best fashion schools are concentrated in expensive metropolitan centres. Some students must drive all day to reach TAFE. </p>
<p>Fashion is a complex business. It combines designing, making, marketing, branding, photography, styling, and formats from conventional parades to newer fashion films. How to even touch on these skills and make them accessible? </p>
<p>Several First Nations fashion organisations, such as <a href="https://www.ifp.org.au/about/">Indigenous Fashion Projects</a>, <a href="https://firstnationsfashiondesign.com">First Nations Fashion + Design</a> and <a href="https://www.mobinfashion.com.au/">Mob in Fashion</a> are helping via in-person, online and mentoring experiences.</p>
<h2>Blak pride and storytelling</h2>
<p>The Indigenous Fashion Projects festival of events was filled with an assertion of pride and storytelling, as well as a re-configuring of the that idea that fashion is Western and European. </p>
<p>As Northern Territory Arts Minister Chansey Paech (Arrernte/Gurindji) said at the awards, when you buy First Nations fashion “you are buying someone’s story, someone’s connection, someone’s truth”. </p>
<p>The parade and the awards ceremony are always tinged with the modesty of many of the participants. Many live in remote communities and are unused to the spotlight. </p>
<p>As their achievements were listed and screened through beautiful short films about their Country and making (made for NITV broadcast), the audience applause saw them swell with shared confidence. Hayley Dodd from Ikuntji Artists declared when accepting the business achievement award, “We are black. And we are deadly.” </p>
<p>With Australia soon to be deciding on the Voice to Parliament, it is timely to reflect on how much has been achieved with so little financial resources or mainstream power. What might we achieve as a nation if all our peoples are supported, financed and also recognised?</p>
<p>As Paech concluded and reminded us: “First Nations fashion excellence began small. It’s about creativity, excellence and pride. [We are] the first designers and models of this world.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-indigenous-fashion-designers-are-taking-control-and-challenging-the-notion-of-the-heroic-lone-genius-121041">How Indigenous fashion designers are taking control and challenging the notion of the heroic, lone genius</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211517/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter McNeil was grateful for a small UTS internal grant to support travel to Larrakia Country.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Treena Clark has received funding through the University of Technology Sydney Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellowship scheme.</span></em></p>
People in the First Nations fashion industry see their work contributing to cultural tradition, economics and cultural sustainability, and blak pride and storytelling.
Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney
Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201782
2023-03-22T04:12:01Z
2023-03-22T04:12:01Z
‘Cultural expression through dress’: towards a definition of First Nations fashion
<p>This May, Wiradjuri woman Denni Francisco and her label Ngali will be the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/mar/21/australian-fashion-week-2023-denni-francisco-to-be-first-indigenous-designer-to-hold-solo-show">first Indigenous designer</a> to have a solo show at Australian Fashion Week. </p>
<p>This is a long time coming for the First Nations fashion industry and the designers and artists who have laboured in the fashion space for many years.</p>
<p>In 2003, Dharug woman Robyn Caughlan was the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/robyn-has-fashion-game-all-sewn-up-20030426-gdgnsm.html">first Indigenous designer</a> to show her ready-to-wear collection at Australian Fashion Week. Over the past 20 years, many Indigenous designers have shown their work in group shows. Francisco’s solo show is an important step forward for the industry.</p>
<p>But First Nations fashion is not just about the catwalk. It is a politically charged practice. We need to have a discussion on what we mean when we say “First Nations fashion”.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-indigenous-fashion-designers-are-taking-control-and-challenging-the-notion-of-the-heroic-lone-genius-121041">How Indigenous fashion designers are taking control and challenging the notion of the heroic, lone genius</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is ‘fashion’?</h2>
<p>During the European colonial reign from 1788 into the 1860s, Australian administrators were shocked at the appearance of Indigenous populations, often <a href="https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_121066/maynard_blankets.pdf?dsi_version=f1a1ebf590935fd50bfc2c57163abcff&Expires=1679467717&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJKNBJ4MJBJNC6NLQ&Signature=KsMMfEdTXMp2VlzeMt%7EZYgdxiVudEaDZbVvjNS8xdgK%7EJg4kePDuST82eTrVQeOIljYIGJ6FxiF4sa6J8Y89I9kJqTpLnidnTO2AJTomxsOeg%7EcpSNHWEqZN0xvpjFHcfyQt73CBkURfrxHajcdxXTCErdqs%7ExHdcK-nPLb68NC%7EHWAejnOVpPmZWv08k-JumxARkDh31tBjMKbYP4jabCFn0bxvT4t7i4897j0fUNu4LGmRYJZDard4gfWfakEhRhcAO1-A2%7EKNVYGJv6sYHBP05-VOrZUlo2aObFzBSHL4p0XIlkbaog2D0C3zWlXmUzfyqAcXMktlIxEO0IbtSw__">imposing new forms of clothing</a>. </p>
<p>To them, Indigenous peoples were generally seen as wearing insufficient, “unsophisticated” and “static” clothing. </p>
<p>From the 19th to early 20th century, sociologists argued only modern, urban societies <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1362704X.2020.1732022">like France</a> had a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/fashion-system">fashion “system”</a> of production, business and the trickle down of styles.</p>
<p>By the 1970s, UK and US researchers started to use the word <a href="http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/arts/alumni-and-associates/the-history-of-arts-education-in-brighton/fashion,-textiles-and-dress-history-a-personal-perspective-by-lou-taylor">“dress” instead of “fashion”</a> to connect wider forms of clothing, bodily and cultural practices.</p>
<p>“Fashion” has, however, been used as far back as the <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110896107?">1970s</a> to describe Australia’s emerging First Nations textiles, garment and runway shows.</p>
<p>Recently, First Nations researchers in Canada and the United States <a href="https://youtu.be/KORH4l2-AO4">discussed</a> using “Indigenous fashion-art-and-dress” to describe First Nations clothing practices, fashion design and integration of art.</p>
<p>In Australia we have not yet had a conversation about a term that could encompass fashion design, textiles and art. Important First Nations fashion <a href="https://firstnationsfashiondesign.com/">associations</a>, <a href="https://www.ifp.org.au/">organisations</a>, <a href="https://www.mobinfashion.com.au/">groups</a>, and <a href="http://globalindigenousmanagement.com/indigenous-runway-project/">projects</a> have attempted their own terms and strategies.</p>
<p>We need a phrase which includes everything from wearing <a href="https://collection.maas.museum/object/363142">Aboriginal flag t-shirts</a> in the city, self-designed outfits in the <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@abc/video/7200892542890577153">Tiwi Islands</a> and <a href="https://www.vogue.com.au/fashion/news/the-ngvs-first-indigenous-fashion-commission-is-an-ode-to-the-golden-age-of-couture/image-gallery/79e0b3a2bc42202ac407e99ef93574d1">commissioned garments</a> in galleries and museums. </p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-828" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/828/24ba342bc9440cb542892aef434942d5fdf0a74d/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Many First Nations designers are not designing for the fashion industry or galleries which sell their work as art. They are designing to break colonial bonds, share cultural stories, and provide a wearable form of wellbeing. </p>
<h2>A matter of style</h2>
<p>We have been exploring the words that Australian First Nations fashion researchers, designers, artists and producers use to describe their work and the industry.</p>
<p>The new millennium has motivated a great flowering of new First Nations designers and artists.</p>
<p>They describe themselves using words such as <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lillardiabriggshouston/?hl=en">fashion designer</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yarrabah/?hl=en">artist</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/simone_arnol/?hl=en">curator</a> and their work as <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lyn_al/?hl=en">fashion and art</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/_myrrdah_/?hl=en">fashion labels</a>. </p>
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<p>They variously describe their work as being Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or First Nations owned, or specifically emphasise their cultural Nations and groups.</p>
<p>Artist <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/108051/1/Elisa_Carmichael_Thesis.pdf">Elisa Jane Carmichael</a> (Quandamooka) calls <a href="https://koorihistory.com/traditional-aboriginal-clothing/">traditional and cultural clothing and adornment</a> “the first creations of Australian fashion”. </p>
<p>Writer Tristen Harwood (First Nations) has written about the difference between <a href="https://www.artlink.com.au/articles/4897/walkabout-style-dreams-and-visions-of-indigenous-f/">“style” and “fashion”</a>. He defines First Nations fashion as the marketing and buying of Indigenous designed fashions. By style, Harwood means the dynamic process of dressing that touches on identity, politics, self-creation and culture.</p>
<p>Style is about wearing attire, in all its complexity, and includes the long history from <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/missions-stations-and-reserves">forced clothing</a> to the <a href="https://mpavilion.org/program/untold-possum-skin-cloaks-reawakening-and-revitalising/">revival of cultural garments</a> and looks. </p>
<p>This distinction between fashion and style also informs <a href="https://magpiegoose.com/">Magpie Goose</a> co-owner and director <a href="https://aiatsis.library.link/portal/A-brief-redress-of-Indigenous-fashion-in/6rejKvEbLx8/">Amanda Hayman</a> (Kalkadoon and Wakka Wakka). She notes how “Aboriginal cultural identity was systematically repressed” from the early 1800s to the late 1960s. With this repression, she argues, “cultural expression through dress was significantly impacted”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpo4bUyLsyH","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Now, a new generation of fashion figures such as teacher and designer <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1362704X.2020.1800991">Charlotte Bedford</a> (Wiradjuri), National Gallery of Victoria curator <a href="https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/infs_00067_7">Shanae Hobson</a> (Kaantju) and @ausindigenousfashion founder and curator <a href="https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/infs_00067_7">Yatu Widders Hunt</a> (Dunghutti and Anaiwan) prefer the terms “Indigenous fashion” or “First Nations fashion”.</p>
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>While there is a <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/appropriate-terminology-for-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people-its-complicated/">wide range of terminologies</a> and languages used within the First Nations fashion sector, it is time for a bigger discussion about a collective and holistic term. </p>
<p>By embracing a holistic term, First Nations fashion would have a new and inclusive definition. It could acknowledge both traditional and contemporary practices of our First Nations peoples, including the role of artists, and encompass everything from fashion runways to creating garments for galleries, as well as everyday First Nations style.</p>
<p>First Nations fashion is political. If you dig deep into fashion stories you will also hear many tales about racism, exclusion and discrimination, as well as <a href="https://oursonglines.com/blog/knowing-where-to-shop-for-survival-day">survival</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/ng-interactive/2020/nov/19/indigenous-fashion-is-the-future-its-time-for-first-nations-people-to-reclaim-it">healing</a>. </p>
<p>We are moving into a new chapter of <a href="https://www.firstpeoplesvic.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/tt-faqs.pdf">truth telling</a> and the sharing of how racism and discrimination have influenced First Nations clothing practices and the fashion industry.</p>
<p>In landing on a collective term we might better represent First Nations peoples’ fashion, art and style stories as well as their community, cultural and design contributions – the business of fashion in Australia itself.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-fashion-week-toronto-designers-are-showcasing-resistance-and-resurgence-151016">Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto designers are showcasing resistance and resurgence</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201782/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Treena Clark has received funding through the University of Technology Sydney Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellowship scheme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter McNeil has received funding from Centre for Public History, University of Technology Sydney.</span></em></p>
Wiradjuri woman Denni Francisco will be the first Indigenous designer to have a solo show at Australian Fashion Week.
Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney
Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/195686
2022-12-01T17:06:12Z
2022-12-01T17:06:12Z
Raf Simons to close – a fashion marketing expert explains how the brand lost relevance
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498284/original/file-20221130-14-8pq6rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=73%2C0%2C2804%2C1626&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Raf Simons walks the runway for his Calvin Klein Collection during New York Fashion Week 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-york-ny-february-13-raf-1174237576">FashionStock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Surviving 27 years in the competitive and fast-changing world of fashion is an accomplishment many brands only dream of. Raf Simons weathered the 2007-08 <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi18e7hlNb7AhXLTcAKHTHKCA0QFnoECAwQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fthe-goods%2F2018%2F12%2F27%2F18156431%2Frecession-fashion-design-minimalism&usg=AOvVaw3TcG0yYsobLGaCJICexOV0">financial crisis</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/reviving-the-uks-textile-industry-could-help-replace-fast-fashion-with-homegrown-clothes-but-there-are-barriers-192141">Brexit</a> and the COVID pandemic with his eponymous label, but in November he announced that the SS23 line would be its last.</p>
<p>“Everything changes, both in our ideas and in the material world. Some changes happen gradually, but often the most important changes are not gradual but discontinuous or jerky.” So says <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QGAftbU22SQC&pg=PA306&lpg=PA306&dq=%E2%80%9Ceverything+changes,+both+in+our+ideas+and+in+the+material+world%22&source=bl&ots=9W2B0YVphO&sig=ACfU3U06lKsT2rf1wbR33MqCb2ACt191fg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhvIifp9P7AhVCi1wKHVmED80Q6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Ceverything%20changes%2C%20both%20in%20our%20ideas%20and%20in%20the%20material%20world%22&f=false">Marxian theory</a> (as articulated by sociologists Peter Knapp and Alan Spector) and, clearly, so says Raf Simons, who has timed the closure of his self-titled label perfectly.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pE7iaQkTgUM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’s SS23 Prada womenswear collection.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now the <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/luxury/miuccia-raf-and-the-future-of-prada/">co-creative director of Prada</a>, Simons has shut down his own label at just the right time to preserve his brand’s undeniable mark on the industry while also enabling him to expand his name and vision at a bigger house.</p>
<p>The timing couldn’t be better. In November, brand consultancy <a href="https://www.pradagroup.com/en/news-media/news-section/22-11-03-prada-best-global-brands22.html">Interbrands</a> rated Prada as one of the fastest growing and “best global brands 2022”, and valued it at USD$6.548 billion.</p>
<p>As an expert in fashion marketing, I believe that Simons’s decision reflects the reality of the industry. Many designers start out as owners of their own brands in order to expand their portfolio, but as their careers progress and they become involved with major houses they can no longer cope with the strains of maintaining two brands.</p>
<p>Catherine Hudson, associate lecturer in fashion design at the University of East London, expressed another point of view to me: “What Simons was once known for – bomber jackets, pop culture inspired themes, patchwork, loose fits – other designers are now grabbing onto. His brand has just not remained relevant enough.”</p>
<h2>What was the Raf Simons line known for?</h2>
<p>Journalist <a href="https://shopthrilling.com/blogs/style-archive/10-once-iconic-fashion-brands-that-no-longer-exist-1">Nicole Johnson</a> noted in recent musings on fashion legacy: “The most influential fashion brands and designers stand the test of time, having occupied distinctive places in fashion history. These icons enjoyed the unique experience of influencing generations.”</p>
<p>From the late Nineties, Raf Simons’ ability to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2752/175174115X14113933306743?needAccess=true">reframe the relationship</a> between pop culture, art and clothing set the tone in menswear for luxury, casual, deconstructed, fashionable clothing.</p>
<p>Simons challenged the system with <a href="https://www.academia.edu/9725939/Raf_Simons_and_Interdisciplinary_Fashion_from_Post_Punk_to_Neo_Modern">nonconforming designs</a> that <a href="https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/8283/the-nightmares-and-dreams-of-raf-simons">spoke to the industry</a> and his fans alike. His fall 2016 menswear collection, Nightmares and Dreams, for example, was a fragmented line of his 20 year archive, suggesting a reclamation of his time following his departure from Dior. Torn, oversized sweaters, down jackets and misaligned coats made the statement that season.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/adL42t5GTKA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Raf Simons’s fall winter 2019/2020 collection.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Following his <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/raf-simons-leaves-calvin-klein">dramatic exit from Calvin Klein</a>, Simons’s fall winter 2019/2020 collection was fraught with messaging that cult followers <a href="https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2019-menswear/raf-simons">revelled in decoding</a>. As journalist Steve Salter observed in a <a href="https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/8xzbvp/raf-simons-spring-summer-20-paris-review">retrospective for Vice</a>, “Raf’s vision was darker, dirtier and more underground than anything we had seen before … the counterculture genius let his statement filled collection do the talking.”</p>
<h2>Why was it time for Raf Simons to close?</h2>
<p>For nearly three decades, Simons excited a youthful fanbase with his merging of luxury fashion, music and hype. That is the mark his brand will leave on fashion history.</p>
<p>Today’s youth culture, however, wants something different. <a href="https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=434540&site=ehost-live">Fashion fan bases of today</a> marvel in the exclusivity of brands like Supreme, the subcultural power houses of Stussy and Off-White, marketing genius of Balmain and Balenciaga and innovation of <a href="https://blog.roblox.com/2022/11/insights-from-our-2022-metaverse-fashion-trends-report/">metaverse fashion brands</a> such as RTFKT. Established brands like Hugo Boss, meanwhile, are reaching new youth audiences by collaborating with Tik Tok celebrities such as <a href="https://group.hugoboss.com/en/newsroom/stories/boss-x-khaby">Khaby Lame</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498290/original/file-20221130-16-x2dygj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fans queue outside an Off-White store in Melbourne, Australia." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498290/original/file-20221130-16-x2dygj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498290/original/file-20221130-16-x2dygj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498290/original/file-20221130-16-x2dygj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498290/original/file-20221130-16-x2dygj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498290/original/file-20221130-16-x2dygj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498290/original/file-20221130-16-x2dygj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498290/original/file-20221130-16-x2dygj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fans queue outside an Off-White store in Melbourne, Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-victoriaaustralia-august-17-2019-photos-1480856138">Robertus Benny Murdhani</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Lacoste restructured to grapple with the fashion industry’s captivation with streetwear, Raf Simons lost sight of the current needs of youth culture. Not adapting to the changing demands of his fanbase kept his brand in the past, and the audience his collections once spoke to slowly dwindled.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Raf Simons has left a legacy. Under his tenure, Prada looks set to continue his reputation as a pioneer, translating the art of countercultures into contemporary fashion. Far from an end to Raf Simons’s visions, closing his own line could be just the beginning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195686/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon Hughes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
As an expert in fashion marketing, I see nothing to mourn in Raf Simons’s decision to close his eponymous label – here’s why.
Sharon Hughes, Senior Lecturer, School of Arts and Creative Industries, University of East London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/165036
2021-08-10T18:18:50Z
2021-08-10T18:18:50Z
How designers can maintain their individuality working at big fashion houses
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415507/original/file-20210810-25-lj1def.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5439%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Models wear creations for the Raf Simons men's Fall/Winter fashion collection presented in Paris in January 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Thibault Camus) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/12/fashion/phoebe-philo-returning-to-fashion.html">Recent headlines</a> have heralded the return of beloved British fashion designer Phoebe Philo, this time at the helm of her own label after several years spent as the creative director of Céline. </p>
<p>After a three-year hiatus, Philo’s comeback is possible, in part, because of the strong professional brand she built for herself while working for others as the creative director of major Parisian fashion houses.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415508/original/file-20210810-27-oshln7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman with dark hair in a white shirt." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415508/original/file-20210810-27-oshln7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415508/original/file-20210810-27-oshln7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415508/original/file-20210810-27-oshln7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415508/original/file-20210810-27-oshln7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415508/original/file-20210810-27-oshln7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415508/original/file-20210810-27-oshln7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415508/original/file-20210810-27-oshln7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Phoebe Philo is seen in this 2010 photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the last two decades, several creative directors like Philo have come and gone from their prestigious posts at heritage fashion houses. These comings and goings have caught the attention of my York University colleague <a href="https://schulich.yorku.ca/faculty/eileen-fischer/">Eileen Fischer</a> and I because they are counter-intuitive to what we would expect based on previous findings in marketing literature. </p>
<p>Past research has shown that senior executives working for well-known organizations typically value their brand affiliations so much that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.13.0435">they’re willing to make compromises and even accept lower pay for it</a>. Why, we wondered, would a creative director — or any professional for that matter — in a high-profile position at one of the world’s most prestigious companies leave a job that can seemingly only add value to their professional brand?</p>
<h2>Top jobs at big fashion houses</h2>
<p>We provided answers to our question in a recently published study entitled <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242920953818"><em>Working It: Managing Professional Brands in Prestigious Posts</em></a>. We used publicly available media interviews with 20 contemporary creative directors who have had one or more prestigious posts at top high-fashion legacy brands — including Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Gucci and Saint Laurent Paris — and identified two challenges inherent to occupying these top positions. </p>
<p>First, while these professionals — and arguably others in similar positions like executive chefs or architects — acquire wealth and knowledge while working these prestigious jobs, the energy and time commitment these jobs require can deplete their physical and emotional health as well as the quality of their relationships with family and friends.</p>
<p>Second, although their individual professional brands gain status from being affiliated with prestigious organizations, their own unique brand identity is at risk of becoming less clearly defined over time and consequently less distinctive from the organization they work for. </p>
<p>This is especially problematic in creative fields that require their top workers to possess a distinctive esthetic or mark. These challenges are significant because they can impact career mobility, and even those who are extremely successful face job insecurity and have no guarantees of continued employment.</p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>Our analysis identified four tactics that can help professionals in prestigious posts manage these challenges.</p>
<p>1) <em>Transporting teams</em>. This means continuously surrounding themselves with trusted people who can help them perform effectively and consistently over time and across organizational settings. For example, Belgian fashion designer <a href="https://rafsimons.com/">Raf Simons</a>, who was the creative director at Jil Sander, Dior and Calvin Klein, transported his right-hand man Pieter Mulier with him through each of these posts <a href="https://www.wmagazine.com/story/pieter-mulier-alaia-new-creative-director">until Mulier became the new creative director of Alaia</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Raf Simons adjusts a model's coat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415510/original/file-20210810-25-1pqqctx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415510/original/file-20210810-25-1pqqctx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415510/original/file-20210810-25-1pqqctx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415510/original/file-20210810-25-1pqqctx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415510/original/file-20210810-25-1pqqctx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415510/original/file-20210810-25-1pqqctx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415510/original/file-20210810-25-1pqqctx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Raf Simons makes adjustments before his fashion show in 2017 during Men’s Fashion Week in New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>2) <em>Drumming up sales.</em> Given that high fashion is both art and commerce, this means producing a vision that is not only acclaimed by critics, but that also translate into sales. Hedi Slimane, currently creative director at Céline, is known for making controversial decisions like <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a23445594/hedi-slimane-celine-logo/">making changes to iconic brand names</a>, yet his commercial success is such that he’s earned the ability to be bold and unapologetic in how he’s running things.</p>
<p>3) <em>Selectively neglecting organizational norms.</em> Of course, professional brands will be contractually obliged to perform in specific ways that reflect the expectations of the organizations they’re working for. But there are some they can ignore in the interests of protecting their professional brand. For instance, Marc Jacobs updated the conservative Louis Vuitton canvas <a href="https://www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/marc-jacobs">despite having been specifically told it was off-limits</a>. It proved to be an incredibly successful move for Vuitton and one that also fit perfectly with Jacob’s irreverent brand persona.</p>
<p>4) <em>Materializing the professional brand in the broader market.</em> This means using social media posts to express professional brand identity to other fashion stakeholders that don’t involve the organization that employs the individual. <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/guccis-renaissance-man">Many creative directors</a> use social media posts for this purpose.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CQyYXq8J8_S","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>The main takeaways are that people managing their own professional brands in prestigious jobs should strike a balance between benefiting from the affiliation and maintaining their independence. </p>
<p>Furthermore, employers who recruit designers to prestigious jobs at their companies should approach the relationship in a mutually beneficial way.</p>
<p>Both parties win if employers treat relationships with key talent as co-branding alliances aimed at success for everyone involved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165036/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie-Agnes Parmentier receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>
Fashion designers managing their individual brands while working at renowned companies should strike a balance between benefiting from the affiliation and maintaining their independence.
Marie-Agnes Parmentier, Associate Professor of Marketing, HEC Montréal
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160847
2021-05-14T12:46:06Z
2021-05-14T12:46:06Z
Halston: The glittering rise – and spectacular fall – of a fashion icon
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400633/original/file-20210513-14-q4ux54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C2973%2C2124&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Halston with the Halstonettes – a group of models who were part of his entourage – at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 1980.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/halston-and-halstonettes-during-diana-vreelands-costume-news-photo/105451563?adppopup=true">Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Walk into any department store, and you’ll get a sense of the powerful brands built by high-end American designers: <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-23-tm-4945-story.html">Calvin Klein</a>, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/briansolomon/2014/02/04/michael-kors-is-fashions-newest-billionaire/">Michael Kors</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ralph-Lauren">Ralph Lauren</a>, <a href="https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/karan-donna">Donna Karan</a>. They created veritable fashion empires by leveraging their names to create lower-priced lines and sign profitable licensing agreements.</p>
<p>But before them all, there was <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1991/09/halston-life-story">Roy Halston Frowick</a> – better known by the singular appellation Halston. </p>
<p>The subject of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9569546/">an eponymous Netflix miniseries</a> starring Ewan McGregor, Halston became one of the earliest American designers to extend his brand to multiple price points. In doing so, he made designs that were normally out of reach for everyday Americans available to the masses.</p>
<p>But as <a href="https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=Vzju6pwAAAAJ&hl=en">fashion</a> <a href="https://jfgordon.net/about.html">historians</a>, we’ll often tell Halston’s story as a cautionary one. Though he made style seem effortless, his relationship with the fashion industry was anything but uncomplicated.</p>
<h2>Attuned to the mood</h2>
<p>A born-and-bred Midwesterner, Halston found early success in hat design working as a custom milliner for <a href="https://style.time.com/2012/09/12/happy-111th-birthday-bergdorf-goodman-a-brief-history-in-numbers/">Bergdorf Goodman</a>. Halston soon became known as a trendsetter, and, in a notable triumph for the young designer, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/fashion/2019/08/20/cnn-films-halston-jackie-kennedy-pillbox-hat-ron-3.cnn">wore one of Halston’s signature pillbox hats</a> at her husband’s inauguration. </p>
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<img alt="Jackie Kennedy rides in a car alongside John F. Kennedy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400402/original/file-20210512-24-1w3vonk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400402/original/file-20210512-24-1w3vonk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400402/original/file-20210512-24-1w3vonk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400402/original/file-20210512-24-1w3vonk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400402/original/file-20210512-24-1w3vonk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400402/original/file-20210512-24-1w3vonk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400402/original/file-20210512-24-1w3vonk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">First lady Jacqueline Kennedy donned one of Halston’s iconic pillbox hats on Inauguration Day in 1961.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/washington-dc-married-couple-us-president-john-f-kennedy-news-photo/514704760?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Later in the 1960s, Halston made the foray into dress design. His success was equal parts talent and serendipity, and he once described his approach as “<a href="https://www.proquest.com/wwd/docview/1445680315/EC61F7898B0F45E9PQ/1?accountid=10906&imgSeq=1">editing the mood of what’s happening</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400405/original/file-20210512-19-1jh3dfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A mannequin dressed in a tan Halston shirtdress." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400405/original/file-20210512-19-1jh3dfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400405/original/file-20210512-19-1jh3dfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400405/original/file-20210512-19-1jh3dfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400405/original/file-20210512-19-1jh3dfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400405/original/file-20210512-19-1jh3dfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400405/original/file-20210512-19-1jh3dfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400405/original/file-20210512-19-1jh3dfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1055&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A tan Ultrasuede Halston shirtdress from 1972.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Halston_shirt_dress.jpg">Museum at FIT/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Although overt simplicity may seem incongruous with grandeur, Halston garments were both understated and luxurious.</p>
<p>Halston’s body-skimming <a href="https://www.1stdibs.com/fashion/clothing/evening-dresses/rare-halston-hand-painted-caftan/id-v_210060/">silk chiffon caftans</a>, <a href="http://d6vrtzdlbankn.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/12-Halston-Original-Iman-jersey-dress-spring-1976-584x1024.jpeg">jersey wraparound dresses</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/09/archives/halstons-revival-of-sweater-girl.html">long cashmere sweaters</a> were often constructed using just one piece of fabric. They covered the body fully, but through careful manipulation of the fabric – wrapping, draping and twisting – Halston’s pieces were sensuous and flattering. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/26/archives/ultra-demand-for-versatile-ultrasuede.html">Halston was even able to turn Ultrasuede</a> – a soft, synthetic, machine-washable faux suede – into a status symbol, molding it into elegant shirtdresses and coats. These became popular despite – or maybe because of – their utter plainness. His garments were fitting for the 1970s, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-09-16/how-1970s-oil-prices-stagflation-changed-the-u-s-economy">when a shaky economy</a> made flagrant displays of wealth unseemly.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400631/original/file-20210513-17-1pwngsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A red dress on a mannequin." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400631/original/file-20210513-17-1pwngsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400631/original/file-20210513-17-1pwngsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400631/original/file-20210513-17-1pwngsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400631/original/file-20210513-17-1pwngsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400631/original/file-20210513-17-1pwngsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400631/original/file-20210513-17-1pwngsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400631/original/file-20210513-17-1pwngsf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A silk Halston evening dress, designed in the mid-1970s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/evening-dress-ca-1976-silk-jersey-by-halston-news-photo/150057792?adppopup=true">Chicago History Museum/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Yet the designer’s social life was the opposite of understated. In fact, the image of fashion design as a glamorous and exciting profession owes much to Halston. During his heyday, he was at “the top of the fashion show-biz heap,” as Women’s Wear Daily publisher John Fairchild <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Chic_Savages.html?id=qezxAAAAMAAJ">once wrote</a>. </p>
<p>At the legendary <a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/studio-54">Studio 54</a>, he mingled with Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol. The world-famous disco club became both a showroom for Halston’s designs and a stage for the man himself, and Halston was often accompanied by an entourage of beautiful women known as “<a href="https://exhibitions.fitnyc.edu/blog-ysl-halston/the-halstonettes/">the Halstonettes</a>.”</p>
<h2>Halston the businessman</h2>
<p>As his stature grew, Halston always looked for ways to expand his fashion empire.</p>
<p>Early in his career, he experimented with what’s known as “<a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057%2F9781137492265_5">brand diffusion</a>” – which is companies’ use of the same brand name on items at varying price points. </p>
<p>His high-end line was Halston Ltd., a made-to-order, ready-to-wear business. Located on New York City’s Madison Avenue, it catered to an exclusive list of private clientele that included film and television stars like Lauren Bacall, Greta Garbo, Liza Minelli and Elizabeth Taylor. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Halston Originals boutique sold dresses to department stores across the country, <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/383974238/">with prices ranging from US$150 to over $1,000</a>. And with Halston International, the designer created “component” knit pieces – not outfits, but singular garments, turtlenecks, sweater sets, shirts and coats – that consumers could mix and match to their delight.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Halston kisses Bianca Jagger on the cheek behind her birthday cake." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400630/original/file-20210513-13-15t5sum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400630/original/file-20210513-13-15t5sum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400630/original/file-20210513-13-15t5sum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400630/original/file-20210513-13-15t5sum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400630/original/file-20210513-13-15t5sum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400630/original/file-20210513-13-15t5sum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400630/original/file-20210513-13-15t5sum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bianca Jagger and Halston during Jagger’s birthday party at Studio 54.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bianca-jagger-and-designer-halston-attend-the-birthday-news-photo/156188908?adppopup=true">Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>After the business conglomerate Norton Simon Inc. acquired the Halston businesses in 1973, Halston remained lead designer of his many collections. He worked at a frenetic pace, creating all of the uniforms for the winter and summer 1976 U.S. Olympic athletes and making costumes for Martha Graham’s ballet production “<a href="https://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/news-photo/ballet-dancer-rudolph-nureyev-welcomes-choreographer-martha-news-photo/583900365?adppopup=true">Lucifer</a>.” Products bearing his name included perfumes, luggage, home linens, coats, rainwear and even wigs. By 1983, Halston Enterprises was generating an estimated <a href="https://www.proquest.com/wwd/docview/1445680315/EC61F7898B0F45E9PQ/1">$150 million in annual sales</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps emboldened by his success or motivated by his heartland roots, Halston signed with JCPenney in 1983 for the creation of an exclusive line that was, as he put it, “<a href="https://www.proquest.com/wwd/docview/1445680315/EC61F7898B0F45E9PQ/1">for the American people</a>.” </p>
<p>With items priced from $24 to $200, the “III line” marked a new era in fashion and retailing. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A man looks at two stylishly dressed women walking by." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400611/original/file-20210513-19-1ikpmp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400611/original/file-20210513-19-1ikpmp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400611/original/file-20210513-19-1ikpmp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400611/original/file-20210513-19-1ikpmp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400611/original/file-20210513-19-1ikpmp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400611/original/file-20210513-19-1ikpmp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400611/original/file-20210513-19-1ikpmp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1115&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Halston III line for JCPenney was the first by a high-end American fashion designer licensing his name.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/barbiescanner/38453218924/in/photostream/">barbiescanner/flickr</a></span>
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<p>While high-end fashion designer <a href="https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2020-12-29/pierre-cardin-dead">Pierre Cardin</a> pioneered this form of licensing in Europe, the project of pairing a high-fashion designer with a mass merchandiser best known for selling Levi’s, hardware and household goods was unusual in the United States. While Halston contended it was <a href="https://www.proquest.com/wwd/docview/1445680315/EC61F7898B0F45E9PQ/1">immensely successful</a>, claiming it generated $1 billion in sales, JCPenney’s executives were less enthusiastic. By the mid-1980s, industry insiders were suggesting that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/05/business/a-slow-start-for-an-upscale-penney-s.html">the garments were not selling as well as expected</a>. </p>
<p>The JCPenney’s deal ultimately proved to be damaging for Halston. Wary high-end retailers, including his early employer, Bergdorf Goodman, were fearful that the prestige of the Halston name was sullied by its presence on the racks of a mass-market merchandiser. Bergdorf Goodman eventually dropped his line altogether. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Halston’s growing reputation of excessive spending and erratic behavior increasingly left his brand to the decisions of businessmen and creative control to other parties. Halston was relegated to the sidelines, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/15/magazine/no-headline-650887.html">his corporate deals effectively cost him the right to his own name</a>. </p>
<p>In 1988, Halston was diagnosed with AIDS. He lived out of the public eye until his death in 1990.</p>
<h2>Others follow Halston’s lead</h2>
<p>Despite its eventual failure, Halston’s pairing with JCPenney was truly ahead of its time. </p>
<p>Citing the importance of creating practical, easy-care leisurewear for working women and young mothers, Halston tried to offer a fashionable wardrobe at reasonable prices that nearly everyone could afford.</p>
<p>Contemporaries such as <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/trends/a23741794/anne-klein-shopbazaar-50-years-exhibit/">Anne Klein</a>, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/style/Kenzo-Auction.html">Kenzo Takada</a> would immediately try out similar diffusion lines. All pulled it off without suffering the extraordinary professional cost that Halston endured. </p>
<p>These designers’ corporate and creative decisions were arguably more tightly controlled than Halston’s devil-may-care diffusion. Acquisitions of these companies by larger conglomerates occurred much later than Halston’s, often decades into the brand’s existence. Perhaps this gave additional time for these brands to arrive at a more singular vision. </p>
<p>Maintaining a consistent direction over such a diverse array of lines proved unfeasible for Halston, and something was lost along the way: the cachet and the allure that made a Halston a Halston. </p>
<p>Halston’s successes and ultimate downfall have provided a cautious inspiration. Isaac Mizrahi’s 2003 <a href="https://www.racked.com/2016/3/10/11183334/isaac-mizrahi-target-qvc">collaboration with Target</a> – 20 years after Halston’s pairing with JCPenney – became a boon for both parties.</p>
<p>It was not, however, without trepidation. In 2019, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/style/youve-heard-of-the-drop-target-had-it-first.html">Mizrahi reminisced that the partnership</a> “was a very scary thing. Halston was my idol … and he had failed.” </p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Relationships between designers and retailers are now commonplace in a climate where the most fashionable and visible of women freely mix and match mass market and luxury items, and designers <a href="https://www.eonline.com/photos/17507/best-designer-collaborations-of-all-time">deftly jump between discount retail and the runway</a>. </p>
<p>Halston’s brand lives on, but resuscitating it has been a long process. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/fashion/the-men-and-women-who-would-be-halston.html">Fashion heavyweights</a> Kevan Hall and Marios Schwab, as well as style figures Rachel Zoe and Sarah Jessica Parker, have lent their creativity and business acumen to the brand, with limited success.</p>
<p>With the release of Netflix’s “Halston,” a new revival is at hand: not of the line, but of the personality that for a comparatively brief – but glittering – moment, ruled the fashion world with devastating simplicity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160847/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The subject of a new Netflix miniseries, Halston once ruled over New York’s fashion world. But the designer with a devil-may-care approach to his business dealings attempted too much, too quickly.
Jennifer Gordon, Lecturer of Apparel, Events and Hospitality Management, Iowa State University
Sara Marcketti, Professor of Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Management, Iowa State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/131469
2020-02-12T02:39:50Z
2020-02-12T02:39:50Z
Is the dress green or red? Planet-friendly couture won’t be for everyone but it can lead the way
<p>Hollywood legend Jane Fonda hit the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony stage this week in a beaded red dress by Elie Saab – a gown she had <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/jane-fonda-wore-the-same-oscar-dress-she-wore-7-ye">previously worn at Cannes in 2014</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bafta.org/film/news/ee-rising-star-award-in-2020">Rising star</a> Kaitlyn Dever walked the Oscars red carpet in a deep scarlet Louis Vuitton dress she told reporters was “<a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/kaitlyn-dever-oscars-2020">completely sustainable</a>” thanks to fibre technology. </p>
<p>Two very different fashion approaches towards saving the planet – but how effective are they at mitigating the environmental impact of fashion? The first comes from an activist trying to be more sustainable, the second from a designer label making production changes. </p>
<h2>Size of the problem</h2>
<p>The fashion industry creates in <a href="https://truecostmovie.com/learn-more/environmental-impact">excess of 80 billion pieces</a> of clothing a year and is responsible for <a href="https://www.unece.org/info/media/presscurrent-press-h/forestry-and-timber/2018/un-alliance-aims-to-put-fashion-on-path-to-sustainability/doc.html">10% of global carbon emissions</a>. </p>
<p>Chemical dyes in fashion create <a href="https://www.unece.org/info/media/presscurrent-press-h/forestry-and-timber/2018/un-alliance-aims-to-put-fashion-on-path-to-sustainability/doc.html">20% of global waste water</a> and crops such as cotton use <a href="https://www.unece.org/info/media/news/forestry-and-timber/2018/fashion-is-an-environmental-and-social-emergency-but-can-also-drive-progress-towards-the-sustainable-development-goals/doc.html">24% of global insecticides</a>. </p>
<p>Microfibers and micro plastics from laundered garments have contaminated our <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es201811s">beaches</a>, <a href="https://orbmedia.org/stories/Invisibles_plastics">bottled drinking water</a>, and <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Microplastics-in-aquatic-food-chain-%3A-sources%2C-and-Hollman-Bouwmeester/e4eb91427fafd7953d17ad6fca9352ae362039f1">aquatic food chain</a>. </p>
<p>Fast fashion promotes the reckless over-production and over-consumption of cheaply made clothing, and is reliant on <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-alliance-sustainable-fashion-addresses-damage-fast-fashion">exploiting inexpensive labour</a>. </p>
<p>Less than 1% of fabrics can be <a href="https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/A-New-Textiles-Economy.pdf">recycled</a> and fibre-to-fibre recycling technology is still in its infancy, without the infrastructure to address the vast amount of garments produced. </p>
<h2>A ‘completely sustainable’ dress?</h2>
<p>Dever’s dress was made from a material called “Tencel Luxe”, with lyocell fibre created from sustainably-grown trees. The wood is cut into tiny pieces, dissolved in a solvent and extruded into a soft cellulose fibre. </p>
<p>This process was first developed in 1972 to create a cheap cotton substitute, often blended into cotton and polyester in inexpensive fabrics. Over time, lyocell improved to make a fabric more appropriate for luxury products. </p>
<p>The sustainability of the fabric has also improved significantly. Today, 99% of the solvent used in the manufacturing process is recyclable. The fabric itself has the same challenges as cotton when <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B978008102041800007X">it comes to recycling</a>. The length of the fibres break down and shortens over time, lowering the quality when recycled into new fabrics – unless virgin material is added. </p>
<p>Indeed, lyocell fabric is far from perfect, and requires a large amount of energy in its production. Just substituting one material for another does not solve sustainability problems.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-make-fast-fashion-a-problem-for-its-makers-not-charities-117977">Time to make fast fashion a problem for its makers, not charities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Dever’s dress was made over <a href="https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-02-09/oscars-2020-red-carpet-green-dress?_amp=true">1,900 hours</a> by a team of artisans with 14,400 Swarovski crystals and glass beads. A gown this opulent uses so much material, energy and labour that its carbon footprint becomes excessive. </p>
<p>The sustainability measure of a garment must include how it is recycled after its life. At present, some cutting edge <a href="https://www.blocktexx.com/News/Recycling-International">fibre-to-fibre recycling</a> technologies exist but Louis Vuitton is yet to offer recycling services. </p>
<p>The Louis Vuitton group hosts the <a href="https://vivatechnology.com/partners/lvmh/">Viva Tech Conference</a> for exhibitors working on sustainable concepts to showcase their developments. It is encouraging that the company’s chairman and chief executive Bernard Arnault <a href="https://r.lvmh-static.com/uploads/2019/09/lvmh__ra_environnement_2018_gb-1.pdf">believes</a> “sustainable, globalised growth is possible” and a priority for the company. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-weird-and-wonderful-ways-nature-is-being-harnessed-to-build-a-sustainable-fashion-industry-119840">Five weird and wonderful ways nature is being harnessed to build a sustainable fashion industry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A second outing</h2>
<p>With her commitment to climate change activism, Fonda has said she will <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-jane-fonda-keeps-wearing-red-coat-getting-arrested-1252315">no longer buy new clothing</a>. </p>
<p>In a world that demands novelty, Fonda’s bold act of choosing an old gown that tastefully fits into today’s trends truly brings “vintage” clothing to the red carpet. </p>
<p>Fonda used her celebrity influence to turn a dress on the red carpet into a political symbol. </p>
<p>Her <a href="https://www.marieclaire.com.au/jane-fonda-fire-drill-fridays-explained">vow</a> not to buy new clothing was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/dec/06/jane-fonda-joining-climate-fight-greta-thunberg-trump">inspired</a> by teenage activist Greta Thunberg, who Fonda said showed that we can’t just “go about our business” in the face of a climate emergency.</p>
<p>No stranger to being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/dec/06/jane-fonda-joining-climate-fight-greta-thunberg-trump">arrested</a>, Fonda’s real world activism is the type needed to change government policies in ways that reign in the fashion industry. </p>
<p>Activists can petition governments, watch over corporations and form grassroots community groups to organise change. Celebrities who straddle the red carpet and the picket line such as Jane Fonda (or Emma Thompson for Extinction Rebellion) are key to a sustainable fashion industry. </p>
<h2>Think before you shop</h2>
<p>It is inspiring to see these two stars’ dresses become talking points. </p>
<p>It shows the public’s growing awareness of climate change and their willingness to change their behaviour to make a difference. The fashion industry will determine significant aspects of the future of our environment and the lives of over 40 million workers around the world. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W70vbDdC2cc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>From developing new green technology to changing consumer consumption behaviour and outlawing exploitative labour practices that make fast fashion possible, we are still a long way from a “completely sustainable” industry. </p>
<p>Corporations will need to evolve and adapt to customers who demand sustainability. They will have to offer services that recycle garments after they have been used, and embrace recycled materials. Celebrities bring these issues to the public and give them steps they can take right now. </p>
<p>When asked by a reporter about what people could do right now to be more sustainable, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W70vbDdC2cc">Dever said</a>, “it’s just a matter of letting it be a part of your lifestyle”.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>With fashion, I think you can think a little before you buy something brand new, and I think can also support vintage – I think that’s really, really important. And also look into the brands you’re supporting. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a great starting point which hopefully continues into a deeper conversation about how far we yet have to go. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Correction: This piece originally stated the fashion industry creates in excess of 85 billion tonnes of clothing a year. It has been corrected to say the industry creates in excess of 80 billion pieces of clothing a year.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Liu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Oscars red carpet saw two glamorous examples of couture that is better for the planet - but were they truly sustainable?
Mark Liu, Chancellors Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Fashion and Textiles Designer, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130207
2020-01-30T03:52:00Z
2020-01-30T03:52:00Z
Riding on the kangaroo’s back: animal skin fashion, exports and ethical trade
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312689/original/file-20200129-154288-7a0rpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C53%2C5901%2C3296&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kangaroo skins are exported for use in football boots, motorcycle suits, fashion footwear and haute couture. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/v3v6uz-n-pQ">Carles Rabada/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Versace fashion house recently <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/15/versace-bans-kangaroo-skin-after-pressure-from-animal-activists">announced</a> it had stopped using kangaroo skins in its fashion collections after coming under pressure from animal rights group <a href="https://www.lav.it/en">LAV</a>. </p>
<p>Kangaroo meat and skin has an annual production <a href="http://www.kangarooindustry.com/industry/economic/">value</a> of around A$174 million, with skins used in the fashion and shoe manufacturing industries. </p>
<p>There are legitimate questions regarding the ethical manner in which kangaroos are killed. But Indigenous people have long utilised the skins of kangaroos and possums. Versace’s concerns may have been allayed by understanding more about our traditions and practices. </p>
<h2>Reviving skills</h2>
<p>There has always been concern around how native animals are treated while alive and how they are killed to cause as little distress, pain and suffering as possible. Campaigners say <a href="https://www.lav.it/en/news/australia-versace-kangaroos">2.3 million</a> kangaroos in Australia are hunted each year. Official <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/wildlife-trade/natives/wild-harvest/kangaroo-wallaby-statistics/kangaroo-2000">sources</a> cite this figure as the national quota, but put the number actually killed at around 1.7 million. </p>
<p>Australian Aboriginal people have for many thousands of years utilised native animals, predominantly kangaroos and possums. Consciously and sustainably, every part of the animal was used. The kangaroo meat was eaten, the skins used to make cloaks for wearing, teeth used to make needles, sinew from the tail used as thread. </p>
<p>The cloaks were incised with designs on the skin side significant to the wearer representing their totems, status and kinship. Cloaks were made for babies and added to as the child grew into adulthood, and people were buried in their <a href="https://www.nationalquiltregister.org.au/aboriginal-skin-cloaks/">cloaks</a> when they died. </p>
<p>Aboriginal women from New South Wales and Victoria have begun <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/museums/images/content/exhibitions-events/where-we-all-meet/djon-mundine-essay-sectioned.pdf">reviving</a> the tradition of kangaroo and possum skin cloak-making to pass down knowledge of this important practice to future generations. Interestingly, possum skins can only be purchased from New Zealand for these crafts. As an introduced species, they have wreaked havoc on NZ animal populations and the environment, but are a protected species in Australia. </p>
<h2>Culls and trade</h2>
<p>In Australia, kangaroos are not farmed but are harvested for meat and fur in the wild under a voluntary <a href="https://www.viva.org.uk/under-fire/cruelty-kangaroos">code of conduct</a>. The code is difficult to monitor and enforcement is <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/thinkk_production/resources/29/Kangaroo_Court_Enforcement_of_the_law_governing_commercial_kangaroo_killing_.pdf">complicated</a> by federal and state sharing of responsibility. This code is currently under <a href="https://www.agrifutures.com.au/kangaroo-commercial-code-review/">review</a>. </p>
<p>The export and import of wildlife is <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/wildlife-trade/natives">regulated</a> under Australia’s national environmental law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 Act.</p>
<p>In practice, kangaroos are shot in the wild by professional licensed shooters with an intended single shot to the head to kill them quickly. </p>
<p>There are <a href="http://thinkkangaroos.uts.edu.au/issues/welfare-and-enforcement.html">concerns</a> over whether shooters should be trained better and whether nighttime shoots with poor visibility result in the killing of alpha males or mothers with joeys in their pouches. </p>
<p>If mothers are accidentally shot, the code dictates the joey should be shot too. Sometimes the shot does not kill them instantly and they are then clubbed over the head. Traditionally, Aboriginal people speared kangaroos. This was unlikely to kill them instantly, so they were swiftly killed with a blow to the head by a <em>boondi</em> (wooden club). </p>
<h2>Why kangaroo?</h2>
<p>Kangaroo skin is extremely strong and more flexible than other leathers, including cow hide. </p>
<p>It is routinely used in the production of soccer boots as they mould to the feet extremely well and don’t need to be worn in like harder leathers. This has led to an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-07-12/kangaroo-skin-hits-fashion-capitals/1799602">increase</a> in the use of kangaroo. </p>
<p>LAV <a href="https://www.lav.it/en/news/australian-fire-our-actions-to-save-animals">reports</a> Italy is the biggest importer of kangaroo leather in Europe, where it is used to produce soccer shoes and motorbike suits. They are <a href="https://www.lav.it/en/news/australian-fire-our-actions-to-save-animals">lobbying</a> brands Lotto and Dainese to stop using kangaroo, arguing that shooting animals is not sustainable given the estimated <a href="https://theconversation.com/bushfires-left-millions-of-animals-dead-we-should-use-them-not-just-bury-them-129787">1 billion</a> creatures killed in bushfires this season. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312688/original/file-20200129-154292-1cyrpg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312688/original/file-20200129-154292-1cyrpg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312688/original/file-20200129-154292-1cyrpg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312688/original/file-20200129-154292-1cyrpg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312688/original/file-20200129-154292-1cyrpg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312688/original/file-20200129-154292-1cyrpg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312688/original/file-20200129-154292-1cyrpg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312688/original/file-20200129-154292-1cyrpg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Animal rights groups want companies like Lotto to stop using kangaroo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/afife-portugal-january-12-2017-lotto-554372161">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In terms of environmental sustainability, kangaroos cause less damage to the environment than cattle. Cows contribute methane gas, their hard hooves destroy the earth, they eat the grass to a point that it does not regenerate. Kangaroos eat the grass leaving a small portion to re-flourish, they bounce across the land without causing damage to it, and don’t produce methane gases. </p>
<p>The use of kangaroo skins in fashion can be done ethically if the code is reviewed in consultation with Aboriginal people and enforced properly. The industry has the <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/an/EA03248">potential</a> to produce and support sustainable business opportunities for Aboriginal communities. </p>
<p>While celebrities are <a href="https://www.idausa.org/campaign/wild-animals-and-habitats/fur/latest-news/kardashians-shamed-among-10-worst-celebrities-fur-animals/">shamed</a> for wearing fur fashion, this relates to the unregulated and inhumane treatment of coyotes, chinchillas, foxes, mink, rabbits, and other fur-bearing animals. In contrast, scientists <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/an/EA03248">consider</a> kangaroo harvest as “one of the few rural industry development options with potential to provide economic return with minimal environmental impact”. </p>
<h2>Only natural</h2>
<p>Versace, along with most fashion retailers across the high-end to ready-to-wear spectrum, use synthetic fibres in their fashion products. Such materials eventually <a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-make-fast-fashion-a-problem-for-its-makers-not-charities-117977">cause more damage</a> to the environment than natural fibres and skins. They don’t biodegrade and many of these fibres end up in landfill, our oceans or in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749119348808">stomachs of fish</a>. </p>
<p>Animal skins will always be used in fashion and other products because of the unique properties the skins bring to design and function. </p>
<p>While the bushfires have killed millions of Australian native animals, kangaroo culls are managed to have limited impact on the population. </p>
<p>We should focus our energy on saving Australian native animals that are <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-bushfires-could-drive-more-than-700-animal-species-to-extinction-check-the-numbers-for-yourself-129773">close to extinction</a> and lobbying for a stricter ethical code for shooters that can be legally enforced to ensure kangaroos are killed humanely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130207/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Fabri Blacklock does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Pressure is mounting on fashion producers to stop using skins from Australian native animals. But Indigenous people are reviving traditions and there are ethical ways for trade to continue.
Dr Fabri Blacklock, UNSW Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/92201
2018-03-02T11:43:16Z
2018-03-02T11:43:16Z
Cardigans and anoraks won’t cut it: why there should be more fashion for older men
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208014/original/file-20180227-36696-6vtnfw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Actor Robert De Niro and dancer Benjamin Millepied in Ermenegildo Zegna's Fall 2017 campaign</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ermenegildo Zegna</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Now we find ourselves nearly drawing pensions and thinking what? What now? Put a cardigan on and grey shoes? Is there an age when you think: ‘Oh, I can’t possibly be involved in fashion now? I must get some old man kit and plod about in misshapen anoraks.’ I know I’m not going to do that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was how Eric – aged 60 – an interviewee in a survey of men aged 50 or older responded when he was asked about his fashion choices.</p>
<p>It’s been nearly two months since London Fashion Week Men, where menswear designers including Craig Green, Christopher Ræburn and Astrid Andersen presented their catwalk collections embracing current buzz-themes of sustainability, diversity and inclusivity. But despite an impressive array of idiosyncratic aesthetics and characters, including nomad travellers, cowboys, city rebels and taxi drivers, there was a notable absence of older male models. </p>
<p>This is in stark contrast to contemporary womenswear, where references to age and ageing <a href="http://origin.anothermag.com/art-photography/3595/anothers-favourite-older-women">seem omnipresent</a> – from mature models <a href="https://graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/news/simone-rocha-older-models-london-fashion-week/">taking over the catwalks</a> and <a href="http://www.seniorstylebible.com">social media</a>, to older female consumers <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-asked-older-women-what-they-want-from-fashion-heres-why-the-industry-needs-to-listen-91166">getting in on the fashion conversation</a>. In recent years we have witnessed a real “<a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/2018/02/meet-over-60s-supermodels-how-greynaissance-sweeping-through-fashion">Greynaissance</a>” of fashion.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207909/original/file-20180226-120776-uowdy8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207909/original/file-20180226-120776-uowdy8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207909/original/file-20180226-120776-uowdy8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207909/original/file-20180226-120776-uowdy8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207909/original/file-20180226-120776-uowdy8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207909/original/file-20180226-120776-uowdy8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207909/original/file-20180226-120776-uowdy8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">London Fashion Week, January 2018: Craig Green, Christopher Ræburn, Astrid Andersen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">London Fashion Week</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To be fair, there was Prada’s Fall show in Milan in 2012 which featured Tim Roth, Gary Oldman and Willem Dafoe – all the other side of 50 – and more recently, astronaut Buzz Aldrin who <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4177454/Buzz-Aldrin-models-Men-s-Fashion-Week-catwalk.html">modelled clothes for Nick Graham</a> at the age of 88 at New York Men’s Fashion Week in January 2017. Mark Hamill and Robert De Niro also featured in high-profile fall campaigns in 2017: Hamill for Rag & Bone and De Niro wearing Ermenegildo Zegna; not to forget the <a href="http://www.greyfoxblog.com/">Grey Fox blogspot</a>.</p>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92201/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ania Sadkowska received funding from AHRC (PhD studentship, 2012-2015). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Townsend does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The clothing market for men over 55 is growing fast with the population. But who is designing their clothes?
Ania Sadkowska, Lecturer in Fashion, Coventry University
Katherine Townsend, Reader in Fashion and Textile Crafts, Nottingham Trent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/77088
2017-05-18T01:21:15Z
2017-05-18T01:21:15Z
Australian fashion is thriving, so where are the policies to take it to the world?
<p>With <a href="http://mbfashionweek.com/australia">Mercedes-Benz 2017 Fashion Week</a> upon us, insiders will no doubt be contemplating what’s new, exciting, and inspiring in the fashion world. The Australian designers set to feature this week are just a small sample of the local talent that make the nation’s creative sector. They’ve been wowing the world for at least as long as our wine makers, and have long been debuting varying displays of creativity on the runway.</p>
<p>So why are they so often forgotten when talk turns to innovation?</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168837/original/file-20170511-21593-ewifi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168837/original/file-20170511-21593-ewifi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168837/original/file-20170511-21593-ewifi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168837/original/file-20170511-21593-ewifi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168837/original/file-20170511-21593-ewifi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168837/original/file-20170511-21593-ewifi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168837/original/file-20170511-21593-ewifi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168837/original/file-20170511-21593-ewifi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The catwalk at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/evarinaldiphotography/6981333858/in/photolist-bCVak9-bRPTez-bCUpWE-bRPuFM-bCULTd-bCWCJs-bRP7iZ-bSd5Vn-bRP7pr-bCUopJ-bRP8aK-bRPSgk-bRPSTv-bT1S6F-bDisSG-bDc4M1-bS6LCX-bDinQm-bT1RZn-bT1QgX-bDims3-bSgQta-bT1Wbc-bE76aJ-bS6EQr-bSd92P-bSgRPe-bS6Mr4-bDbYkL-bT5iHF-bDbXuY-bDipUm-bSeWyn-bSeRKR-bT5ihk-bCV8T3-bRPwnt-bCUMdC-bT5hZg-bCV8au-bT5jmg-bT5iak-bDbUNs-bCUJYh-bT5j6B-bRPTz4-bRPtCF-bSh7KR-bS6Fwg-bEaxM9">Eva Rinaldi, flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Current policy debates are often framed entirely in terms of high technology innovation drawing on investments in <a href="https://www.innovation.gov.au/page/agenda">STEM</a>: science, technology, engineering, and maths. But this is merely one (albeit important) form of innovation.</p>
<p><a href="https://au.fashionunited.com/fashion-industry-statistics-australia">Local fashion manufacturers</a> employ 37,000 people, while the <a href="http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/06/08/21/18/fashion-industry-an-aust-strength-bishop">sector itself</a> (including modelling and styling) creates in total about 220,000 jobs. And while Australians are spending <a href="https://au.fashionunited.com/fashion-industry-statistics-australia">A$28 billion</a> on fashion each year, the vast majority of this consists of imports of high-value designer fashion – that’s A$15.2 billion at last count.</p>
<p>We export <a href="https://au.fashionunited.com/fashion-industry-statistics-australia">A$6.1 billion</a> in textiles, most of which are unprocessed commodities that are sold back in the form of luxury brands by French, Italian, and British fashion houses. By contrast, the <a href="http://www.gouvernement.fr/en/fashion-and-luxury-goods-0">French fashion sector</a> is valued at around A$50 billion, with exports valued at around A$14.6 billion (or 43%). This figure climbs to around 70-80% for locally produced luxury items. </p>
<p>Like Australia, France is a high labour cost country, and, as such, the focus on high-value manufacturing makes economic sense. France has a long history of leveraging the cultural capital in its creative sectors, while hardly being a laggard when it comes to high-technology innovation. </p>
<h2>The great divide</h2>
<p>In essence, innovation concerns generating something “new” and valuable to a user. In STEM, newness relies on genuine breakthroughs that address gaps in the market or substantially improve on existing technologies. Value is judged in terms of functional performance. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293635/bis-14-p188-innovation-report-2014-revised.pdf">Overseas evidence</a> suggests developing and commercialising these breakthroughs requires investment in universities, a strong start-up sector to develop workable prototypes, and larger firms with the resources necessary to develop markets.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168838/original/file-20170511-21598-1mkjch9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168838/original/file-20170511-21598-1mkjch9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168838/original/file-20170511-21598-1mkjch9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168838/original/file-20170511-21598-1mkjch9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168838/original/file-20170511-21598-1mkjch9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168838/original/file-20170511-21598-1mkjch9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168838/original/file-20170511-21598-1mkjch9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168838/original/file-20170511-21598-1mkjch9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian fashion designer Akira Isogawa at Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/evarinaldiphotography/6994782584/in/photolist-bE76aJ-bS6EQr-bSd92P-bSgRPe-bS6Mr4-bDbYkL-bT5iHF-bDbXuY-bDipUm-bSeWyn-bSeRKR-bT5ihk-bCV8T3-bRPwnt-bCUMdC-bT5hZg-bCV8au-bT5jmg-bT5iak-bDbUNs-bCUJYh-bT5j6B-bRPTz4-bRPtCF-bSh7KR-bS6Fwg-bEaxM9-bS6Nue-bDbTY1-bDk6HJ-bS6LVP-bDipjh-bSd8oc-bT1RKP-bSgSh8-bDisoW-bDikn7-bSd4JP-bSdaMM-bE74hG-bS6GBk-bDiqv1-bT1N1V-bDc5Vq-bT5hG8-bEaxkm-bT1RAP-bDk7mG-bT5jHt-bT5icx">Eva Rinaldi</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In terms of fashion, what’s considered “hot” or in-season is rarely new to the world. Styles come and go; they’re reborn and recycled, and are mashed-up. In some cases, such as for Melbourne-based fashion designer Toni Maticevski, his draping - how an item of clothing hangs - techniques are enduring. Value, in this context, is very different. it’s highly symbolic and branded</p>
<p>In fashion, new ideas come from reinvention and combining old with new. For example, <a href="https://di-count-universe.myshopify.com/">Discount Universe</a>, the brand of choice for leading celebrities like Katy Perry and Kylie Jenner, developed an outrageous aesthetic style using outdated fashion sequin techniques. Founded in 2010 by two Melbourne graduates, the brand up-ended the accepted definitions of luxury (“discount”) and status (“universe”). Discount Universe built a strong consumer community through its website, eventually attracting the awareness of celebrities who ensured the brand could expand both its ready-to-wear range and its high fashion line. </p>
<h2>Fashion future</h2>
<p>Australia clearly has the talent, but what policies could help the country’s fashion industry compete on the world stage?</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168834/original/file-20170511-21623-xwsyqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168834/original/file-20170511-21623-xwsyqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168834/original/file-20170511-21623-xwsyqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168834/original/file-20170511-21623-xwsyqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168834/original/file-20170511-21623-xwsyqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168834/original/file-20170511-21623-xwsyqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168834/original/file-20170511-21623-xwsyqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168834/original/file-20170511-21623-xwsyqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A new generation of Melbourne designers at RMIT.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rmitand/5344650053/">RMIT - School of Architecture and Design, flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Universities are important, not so much as the source of new trends, but as a space to experiment and connect aspiring innovators. These institutions act as repositories for knowledge that may no longer be leading edge, but could one day be a source of value, such as leather-making. </p>
<p>Expanding and adding more apprenticeships to learn fashion crafts may also lead to fruitful ends. After all, at Savile Row tailor Gieves and Hawkes it can take up to 10 years to learn to cut cloth to their exacting standards, something that makes hiring difficult, but ultimately provides a rewarding career to those who do. </p>
<p>The relative decline of many former manufacturing sectors in Australia is perhaps an opportunity to retrain displaced workers as skilled craftspeople who can find employment in high-end creative sectors. </p>
<p>Melbourne designer Amanda Briskin’s <a href="https://a-esque.com/">A-Esque</a> luxury leather-wear brand is just one of many requiring craftspeople to expand globally. Likewise Louis Vuitton’s purchase of <a href="http://www.afr.com/brand/afr-magazine/rm-williams-sets-out-to-sell-its-australian-story-to-the-world-20160214-gmu1ih">RM Williams</a> was partially motivated by access to the firm’s atelier in South Australia .</p>
<h2>Art meets science</h2>
<p>Innovation also happens when when STEM meet the creative arts. For example, advances in both sports and materials science has generated a whole new range of active wear aimed at enhancing wearer performance.</p>
<p>However, people want to also look good, which is where the fashion sector comes in. “<a href="https://theconversation.com/denims-demise-and-the-rise-of-athleisure-47874">Athleisure</a>” label <a href="https://pe-nation.com/">P.E Nation</a> developed by local designer Pip Edwards has done just this, combining brand marketing (Australia’s image of active living), with materials advances to move active wear out of the sports stores and into luxury chains around the globe. With Australia’s leadership in sports science, cross-overs like this offer much potential for future innovation. </p>
<p>Australia has long had a vibrant artistic scene that has translated into success in fashion, advertising, and industrial design – which are all critical to market success today. </p>
<p>The knowledge in these sectors is just as important to building a sustainable innovation economy as STEM disciplines, and should be part of a more nuanced innovation debate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77088/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Beverland works for School of Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University, Melbourne. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kiri Delly works for School of Fashion & Textiles, RMIT University, Melbourne.</span></em></p>
When Malcolm Turnbull released his innovation agenda, the arts were missing. But Australia’s fashion industry is a true innovator, comparable to French and Italian fashion houses. It’s time to recognise this at home.
Michael Beverland, Professor of Fashion Enterprise, RMIT University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/67535
2016-10-24T19:06:41Z
2016-10-24T19:06:41Z
Ambivalent, exquisite and playful: the wonder of Viktor & Rolf
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142825/original/image-20161024-15963-odtrwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Installation view of Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists at the National Gallery of Victoria.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Wayne Taylor</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/viktorandrolf/">Viktor & Rolf: Fashion Artists</a> at the National Gallery of Victoria celebrates the luxury of unwearable fashion. This array of stunningly executed “works” captures the remarkable career of the enigmatic Dutch duo. The exhibition, consisting of around 45 items from their collection plus installations and film, reminds us that the ideas behind a fashion show are just as important as the material things.</p>
<p>The works that most clearly encapsulate the exhibition’s title are those from the pair’s Wearable Art haute couture collection, autumn–winter 2015–16. Presented in the exhibition as gilt framed canvas “masterpieces”, they are cleverly engineered to transform into dresses through mind-boggling construction. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142823/original/image-20161024-15963-sx98g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142823/original/image-20161024-15963-sx98g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142823/original/image-20161024-15963-sx98g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142823/original/image-20161024-15963-sx98g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142823/original/image-20161024-15963-sx98g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142823/original/image-20161024-15963-sx98g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142823/original/image-20161024-15963-sx98g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142823/original/image-20161024-15963-sx98g7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Viktor&Rolf Wearable Art haute couture collection, autumn–winter 2015–16.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NGV/©Team Peter Stigter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When originally presented in a fashion show, the dresses were mounted on the wall. The duo then dressed a model by literally taking the picture off the wall and placing it on her body. At the NGV, some are on a wall, others are on a mannequin.</p>
<p>The works presented from the Russian Doll collection, meanwhile, illustrate how the pair turn fashion into performance art. In this collection – shown to viewers in its entirety at the NGV on video - a model on a rotating platform was dressed by the designers in all nine outfits consecutively. She became engulfed in clothes: from a raw jute dress to her culmination as a “Russian doll” in enlarged, embellished and caricatured silhouette, nine layers deep in fashion. (At the NGV, a selection of pieces from the collection are shown on rotating mannequins.)</p>
<p>Haute couture traditionally involves garments made bespoke for an individual client, which are presented first in a fashion show. It’s not just about making extreme or un-wearable fashion. Rather, it is a very specific type of fashion practice where invited designers are governed by a French body with specific codes, regulations and schedules. For most designers it is a world that only comes to them after many years of producing collections that are prêt a porter- “ready to wear” or “off the rack”. </p>
<p>Viktor & Rolf, however, remain both inside and outside of the world of fashion in a contemporary way. The show illustrates how they have established a type of doubled, cloaked identity within the world of haute couture.</p>
<p>After winning a revered fashion competition in France in 1993 and graduating from studies in the Netherlands, the duo presented their first collection in an art gallery. Their “fashion house,” based in Amsterdam for most of their career, has become a place to question, challenge and provoke critical reflection. How does a designer make a collection, for instance, and how is it presented? </p>
<p>For followers of fashion, many of the works in the exhibition are very familiar - images of them have circulated for so long. During the time Viktor & Rolf emerged and flourished in the 1990’s, fashion was taking off on the Internet, meaning exclusive fashion shows could be viewed and experienced by anyone. In all of the pair’s collections, the assumptions of a fashion show have been questioned and subverted. Their shows were much more theatrical than most and often, the designers were on the stage themselves dressing the models.</p>
<p>This is an exhibition replete with ambivalence and double entendres. For instance, an installation of Viktor & Rolf Le Parfum bottles consists of bottles that can’t be opened (containing a liquid that may be perfume), signalling the seductiveness of the “brand name”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142829/original/image-20161024-15963-58xobq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142829/original/image-20161024-15963-58xobq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142829/original/image-20161024-15963-58xobq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142829/original/image-20161024-15963-58xobq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142829/original/image-20161024-15963-58xobq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142829/original/image-20161024-15963-58xobq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142829/original/image-20161024-15963-58xobq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wayne Taylor</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then there are the playful catwalk presentations that question the whole notion of the fashion show. One installation features a specific doll-size, purpose-built runway with a front row, lights and music. The robotic doll is the proportion of traditional Belgian half scale dolls. The viewer enters a room and takes a seat in the front row. The doll then parades down the “catwalk” wearing a piece from the designers’ recent collections. </p>
<p>Also in this show is a work from their Long Live the Immaterial collection – a blue ensemble that plays with the idea of the photo montage effect in post production. “Blue Screen” fabric was used in many of the pieces. For the shows, video images and footage were composited onto the clothing, playing with the divide between garment, body and image. </p>
<p>This exhibition presents beautifully a contemporary gaze into the exclusive world of high fashion. For the most part, it’s success – in the eyes of this fashion designer – is the opportunity it gives us to intimately look at such remarkable works in the flesh.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142826/original/image-20161024-15930-17tauy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142826/original/image-20161024-15930-17tauy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142826/original/image-20161024-15930-17tauy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142826/original/image-20161024-15930-17tauy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142826/original/image-20161024-15930-17tauy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142826/original/image-20161024-15930-17tauy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142826/original/image-20161024-15930-17tauy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Viktor&Rolf.
Cutting Edge Couture ready-to-wear collection, spring– summer 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Team Peter Stigter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After seeing so many of the pair’s clothes as images, their real life presence was, for me, more than I had imagined. When viewing a fashion show image, you don’t see how the work has been conceived as a 3D object. Up close, you realise that the designers have worked with a traditional atelier – highly skilled artisans have realised these garments. It took between 300 and 1000 hours to create some of the pieces shown at the NGV. For me, the clothes were more beautiful than I’d envisaged - and the designers’ ideas more palpable. </p>
<p>Pieces from the Cutting Edge Couture collection, featuring heavily layered tulle ball gowns with laser-like precision cutout and voids, played tricks on the eye.</p>
<p>It was hard not to reach out and touch a red bustier ball gown at the NGV, with its perfectly constructed circle cut through the hundreds of layers of tulle. You could see right through the dress. </p>
<p>These highly laborious confections are beyond most de rigeur practice of contemporary fashion designers. They are a far away ideal.</p>
<p><em>Viktor & Rolf Fashion Artists will run at the NGV until 26 Feb.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ricarda Bigolin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Paintings that turn into frocks; a model dressed in nine outfits like a Russian doll. A new exhibition by Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf is truly fashion as performance art.
Ricarda Bigolin, Program Manager, Master of Fashion (Design), RMIT University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/63649
2016-08-24T20:26:14Z
2016-08-24T20:26:14Z
Why STEM subjects and fashion design go hand in hand
<p>The fashion industry evokes images of impossibly beautiful people jet setting around the world in extravagant finery. Like a moth to the flames, it draws many of our most creative young minds. Often, the first instinct of high school students who want to work in creative industries is to drop all their math and science subjects to take up textiles and art. </p>
<p>As a fashion and textile designer myself, I would like to explain how this is a bad strategy and how the future of fashion requires <a href="https://www.academia.edu/27951162/SO_YOU_WANT_TO_BECOME_A_FASHION_DESIGNER_..%E2%80%8B">science, technology, engineering and mathematics</a> (STEM skills) more than ever.</p>
<p>Beneath the glamorous façade, the fashion industry is undergoing disruptive changes due to rapid advances in technology. We take it for granted that you can use your Iphone to watch a fashion runway show on YouTube, Google the garment to find an online retailer like Net-A-Porter, pay for it using PayPal and then upload a selfie onto Snapchat. None of these services even existed 20 years ago.</p>
<p>Materials that were theoretical thirty years ago have become pervasive. So when you buy yoga clothing from Lululemon that are “anti-bacterial” you are actually wearing fabrics that are coated in silver <a href="http://eng.thesaurus.rusnano.com/wiki/article1257">nano-whiskers</a>. Sportswear companies such as <a href="http://www.materialise.com/cases/software-solutions-help-nike-in-supporting-great-art">Nike</a> and <a href="http://www.materialise.com/cases/adidas-futurecraft-the-ultimate-3d-printed-personalized-shoe">Adidas</a> engage in a technological arms race of materials and technology. The reason why their latest shoes look like something out of science fiction is because the technology is truly cutting edge science.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135242/original/image-20160824-30249-1wzaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135242/original/image-20160824-30249-1wzaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135242/original/image-20160824-30249-1wzaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135242/original/image-20160824-30249-1wzaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135242/original/image-20160824-30249-1wzaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135242/original/image-20160824-30249-1wzaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135242/original/image-20160824-30249-1wzaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135242/original/image-20160824-30249-1wzaln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Actor Gwendoline Christie models a creation by Iris van Herpen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Benoit Tessier/Reuters</span></span>
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<p>In 2011, Parisian High Fashion forever changed when designer Iris van Herpen was <a href="http://www.materialise.com/cases/iris-van-herpen-s-escapism">invited as a guest member</a> of La Chambre Syndicale de La Haute Couture. Van Herpen, who makes liberal use of hi tech materials such as magnetic fabric, laser cutters and custom developed thermoplastics which are 3D printed, was embraced by the oldest establishment as “Haute Couture”.</p>
<p>Even the supermodel Karlie Kloss advocates the importance of STEM skills for future careers in the tech industry and has a scholarship program <a href="http://kodewithklossy.com/">Kode with Klossy</a> that teaches young girls computer coding.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135055/original/image-20160823-18708-1v506s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135055/original/image-20160823-18708-1v506s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135055/original/image-20160823-18708-1v506s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135055/original/image-20160823-18708-1v506s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135055/original/image-20160823-18708-1v506s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135055/original/image-20160823-18708-1v506s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1105&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135055/original/image-20160823-18708-1v506s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1105&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135055/original/image-20160823-18708-1v506s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1105&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Karlie Kloss: a fan of coding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Danny Moloshok/Reuters</span></span>
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<p>Fashion is a unique blend of business, science, art and technology. It requires a polymath, a person who can understand all of these skills. The most compelling reasons to learn STEM skills is because technology and rapidly changing business models have made surviving in the business more competitive than ever. </p>
<p>If you are running a fashion label you will probably need a business loan or have to justify what you are spending your money on. No matter how brilliant your ideas, the people who control money are only swayed by arguments based on sound financial reasoning. Rates of return, accounting and interest rates are all ideas that can only be well understood using mathematics.</p>
<p>Mathematics is mandatory for financial literacy. It introduces ideas such as optimisation, understanding statistics and problem solving and forms a language that allows designers to talk to scientists, engineers and business people.</p>
<p>If you are going to study fashion in college, you will need to learn about fabrics, which are material science. No matter how advanced the school syllabus in textiles, by the time you get to college there will be new materials and technology that did not exist before you got there. If you learn chemistry and physics you will understand the underlying scientific principles on a deeper level, making new material science really easy in the future.</p>
<p>Learning chemistry in school introduces you to lab protocols, taking measurements and accurately recording experiments. These are the exact skills you will need when working with dyes and pigments in textiles. </p>
<p>Using dyes to change the colour of textiles is essentially carbon chemistry. To do this a designer must change the acidity or alkalinity of the fabric - known as the PH level. This allows the “chromophores,” which are the parts of the dye molecule that create colour, to embed into the fabric. The PH scale in chemistry is a logarithmic scale and this is one place where abstract mathematical ideas are actually used in practice.</p>
<h2>Maths and creativity</h2>
<p>Mathematics can also push the boundaries of creativity in fashion. Designer Dai Fujiwara collaborated with legendary 1982 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fields-Medal">Fields Medal</a> winning mathematician William Thurston to create radically different garments inspired by geometry and topology. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135238/original/image-20160824-30216-1rw5c23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135238/original/image-20160824-30216-1rw5c23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135238/original/image-20160824-30216-1rw5c23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135238/original/image-20160824-30216-1rw5c23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135238/original/image-20160824-30216-1rw5c23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135238/original/image-20160824-30216-1rw5c23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135238/original/image-20160824-30216-1rw5c23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135238/original/image-20160824-30216-1rw5c23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A 2011 creation by Dai Fujiwara.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Benoit Tessier/Reuters</span></span>
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<p>In his 1 32 5 collection Fujiwara collaborated with computer scientist Jun Mitani to create mathematical folding algorithms generating innovative clothing. My own PhD research explores <a href="http://newsroom.uts.edu.au/news/2016/08/disruptive-fashion?utm_source=disruptive_gk6&G3utm_medium=gk&utm_campaign=disruptive_aug16">the underlying geometry of how clothing is made</a> and has even been used to teach abstract mathematical concepts through making fashion garments. </p>
<p>For a socially minded designer, STEM skills are essential to understanding environmental sustainability. Fashion used to have seasons, but now with fast fashion companies such as Zara and H&M, new clothing is coming into stores in each week. Fast fashion companies are often criticised for being unsustainable and exploiting workers. </p>
<p>Sustainability in the fashion industry is an extremely complex issue. It requires an understanding of the underlying science, economic behaviour and business practises of the fashion industry and their environmental impact. </p>
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<p>The fashion industry is full of “Greenwash,” fake sustainable marketing which has no scientific basis. STEM skills allow you to navigate these complex issues and try to address them for yourself.</p>
<p>The future of fashion is uncharted territory, but STEM skills make a budding fashion designer smart and adaptable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63649/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Liu receives funding for an Australian Postgraduate Award from the Australian Government Department of Education and Training. </span></em></p>
The fashion industry attracts creative young minds. But to succeed as a designer in a time of rapid technological change, knowledge of maths and science is invaluable.
Mark Liu, PhD Philosophy, Fashion and Textiles Designer, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.