“For me, elegance is not to pass unnoticed but to get to the very soul of what one is.” –Christian Lacroix
The creations of fashion designer, Christian Lacroix, are the epitome of the perfect spontaneous combinations of what he truly embodies. Inspiration for these comes from his southern France roots, his passion for the Provence traditions and customs, and his continuing fascination with the history of clothing. Lacroix’s artfully unexpected mixtures express a new form of luxury, simultaneously playful, baroque, and sophisticated. He intertwines bright colors and over the top materials in creations that express a distinct blending of varying cultures. These cultures, and their distant or forgotten costumes, form the basis of the reasoning behind Christian Lacroix’s work.
Christian Marie Marc Lacroix was born in 1951 in Arles, France. In early childhood Lacroix showed a flair for creativity and design by putting together little albums on theater and opera, making collages of his family portraits, and of course sketching historical costumes. In 1969, he left Arles after graduating from high school to study the history of art in Montpellier, and then enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1973. In addition, at this time he was also taking courses at the École du Louvre to become a museum curator. It was during this period of his life that he met his future wife, Françoise Rosensthiel, they married in 1974. With the encouragement of his wife, he soon turned to fashion design. In 1978 he became an assistant at Hermes, where he learned the technical aspects of the profession. After collaboration with the couturier of the Tokyo Imperial Court, he then joined the House of Patou in 1981. In 1986, he received the Golden Thimble award f...
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...ing I wrote in this paper. While researching Christian Lacroix, I learned so many amazing things about this man and his life. He achieved so many groundbreaking things in such a short span of his lifetime, pretty much in his peak of ten years, and it is truly inspiring. In reviewing his work, I was awestruck. The detail, color, and love that goes into these creations is amazing. I really feel he has made quite an impact on the industry, and influenced it in many ways. His “pouf” skirts, “frou-frou” petticoats, and neckline that drew attention to the décolletage, were considered traditional and baroque, yet interestingly inventive for this time period. Everyone in the industry was fascinated by him, especially here in America. He fully deserved the award of “Most Influential Foreign Designer”, because that is what Christian Lacroix was, fabulously influential.
The purpose of this Essay is to discuss an example of design from the late 1800s, I will relate it to the social, economic, technical and cultural context of that time. . I intend on delivering details of the artist and his life experiences as well as his style and possible interests. I will also evaluate the subject with my own opinion, likes and dislikes, with comparisons of work and artists from within that period up to the present date
Clothing style is dictated by three particular interests. First is popular fashion, which was most influenced by either the church or the rulers, as styles were copied from the ruling class, and, as they grew more and more extreme, criticized by the ecclesiastical element. Second is commercial interests. The strong merchant class will always know how to push the richest and most expensive materials into the mode. And thirdly is personal artistic expression. Fashion is dictated by many factors such as geography, time, and social and ethical standards. But superseding these is the influence of strong personalities, the brave people who will don the unthinkable, and in doing so, create the latest trend. Personal expression and creativity will only be found in the bravest, and usuall...
Werle, Simone. Fashionista A Century of Style Icons. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977. Print.
“When I opened my couture house I decided to dress only the most fashionable women from the first ranks of society.” –Christian Dior
Working at her father’s clothing shop, she became very knowledgeable about expensive textiles and embellishments, which were captured in her works later in career. She was able to capture the beauty and lavishness of fabrics in portraits of aristocratic women.
The Chronicle of Western Fashion: From Ancient times to the Present Day.
I have chosen question 2 for my essay. I plan to discuss the history and appearance of the Art Deco style. In my essay, I will discuss the work of Adolphe Mouron Cassandre. The artworks I have chosen to analyse are ‘Normandie’ poster, 1935 (Fig. 1) and ‘Dubonnet’, 1932 (Fig. 2). I will discuss why his graphic design should most definitely be considered as Art Deco. I will compare Cassandre with another famous Art Deco designer, Paul Colin.
Fashion plays an important role in the lives of billions all over the world; people, as part of a status craving society, turn to “fashion capitals” of the world for ways in which to dress and carry themselves. New York, Milan, and Paris are leaders among this fierce industry that the world lusts after. Fashion can speak volumes about ones personality, or also about the condition the world is in at the time. In France, fashion changed rapidly and feverously as the times changed.
Gabrielle Chanel remains one of the most well-known fashion designers of all time. She was born on August 19, 1883 in France and died in 1971. Chanel revolutionized the fashion industry with her distinctive style. After the death of her mother, she spent much of her childhood in an orphanage. The challenges of her early life helped build her strong character which influenced her path in life. Chanel was nicknamed “Coco” after a lost dog in a popular song she loved to sing. Her early career was funded by a succession of her rich lovers. This allowed her to open her first shop in Paris in 1910. She sold hats as well as some garments. Coco developed a significant following of clientele who enjoyed her practical sportswear creating great success.
My essay is going to be a discussion on whether fine art, fashion and designers are linked with each other. On starting my essay I looked up the definition of Fine art, the term is used to distinguish the variation of creative art forms, developed by humans. Some of the many concepts which fall under this category are painting, drawing, calligraphy, sculpture etc. I agree that fine art uses lots of visually appealing methods which seem graceful, like calligraphy the work produced is quite delicate and pretty. The area in fine art which I seek to specialise in is fashion it’s an expression in today’s society which defines the popular trends and style within clothes, foot wear and accessories. I feel that many designers of today create outfits, as a way of expressing their difficult to understand innovations. Artists and designers are arguably alike due to using similar creative techniques, and media to plan and craft their masterpiece. Art has always been a main influence in fashion, without fine art the majority of the vast selection of patterns and clothes wouldn’t have existed in the past or even the present day. Take Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian dress, created in 1965. Yves Saint Laurent was inspired by the 1920s abstract geometric pattern painting of Piet Mondrian work. Yves Saint Laurent realised during the 1960s that the simplicity and the flat planes, were ideal for the developing sack dress. Later on Yves Saint Laurent’s dress was replicated many times due to being so popular. As shown by Yves Saint Laurent, The patterns on dresses and other fabric weren’t an accident made by the designer who created them. But in fact inspirations from artists work. I believe that fashion is built upon art and culture of an entire era, si...
middle of paper ... ... It also analyzed the influences of modern dresses. As Palmer and Clark (2005) mentioned earlier, both decades are the classic era in fashion history.
Therefore, in an attempt to both show the gravitas of fashion’s impact and justify its mirroring of times and therefore society, a walkthrough of fashion throughout history and its adaptation is exceedingly appropriate. To begin with, Britain’s Industrial Revolution in the 1850s to 1900s came with the introduction of sewing machines and chemical dyes. However, this movement of clothe manufacturing rendered its availability strictly to the opulent. This is a direct relation to the economical situation of the time, showing that people’s expenses were not directed towards the most up to date fashion i.e. luxury products but rather necessities indicating a slowly developing economy. As we move from the 1900s to the mid 1920s, the inception of the First World War influenced the need for more ‘practical’ garments. To illustrate, one of the greatest designers of the century Paul Poiret, designed his garments in a style known as the Directoire. His dresses were simple straight tube sheaths defining simplicity and exemplifying both the political and economic situation of the times justifying the necessity for a free moving design in clothing. Why adopt the notion of simplicity and free moving garments? Women had to leave their traditional domestic roles and become part of the working class or work force and adopt and replace many roles that were normally given to men. Furthermore, the Great Depression in the 1930s comes to play its own role in fashion history further pushing the necessity for a fashion to be translated to accustom a busier lifestyle. This created an economic gap between the rich and the poor. Therefore, fashion in the 1940s in the substantial sense portrayed the necessity for work and socioeconomic background and furthermore encased the economic situation where, as previous times in the 1900s, high-end fashion was restricted to the rich. Following a chronological timeline comes the
Yves Saint Laurent is indisputably one of the grand masters of fashion, a true couturier, a pioneer and a rebel. He created more than beautiful, articulated and fine garments; he reinvented the ‘woman’ as an archetype in fashion, he incorporated art in his design in a way that is vague if he was a designer or an artist in heart. He dedicated his whole life to the pursuit of the absolute inspiration, of true beauty and breaking the rules. Throughout his life, Yves Saint Laurent, was torn between the West and the East, prudence and recklessness, conservatism and innovation, but he was never unprogressive. His designs portray this conflict and perhaps this is what gives them an air of mystery, of unprecedented elegance and grit. As Duras says, “Yves Saint Laurent invents a reality and adds it to the other, the one he has not made. And he fuses all of this paradoxical harmony-often revolutionary, always dazzling.” His legacy is beyond of being a designer, a couturier; he is a reformer, a passionate rebel, whose progressive views expanded beyond making beautiful garments for people with expensive taste and status; beyond couture.
To begin with, I shall look at what fashion is; it is a currently popular style or practice involving clothing, footwear or accessories. It mostly refers to the current trends in looks and dressing style of a person (Cumming 234). In most cases, fashion is confusedly related to costumes; when a person talks of fashion they are seen to mean fashion in terms of textile. Fashion is seen to originate from the Western world and it is copied by other places. In this paper, we shall look at how fashion affects lifestyles and the group of people who are affected most. The paper further investigates how media is used to transmit fashion from one region to the other. Although it has been seen to affect people’s lives many people have different perspectives on fashion and dressing.
Clothing has always been an important part of society, with evidence from the earliest human civilizations. In history, climate, religion and political factors played a role in the fabrication, styling and even color of the garments that people wore. Today, the fashion industry is multi-faceted, and while climate and religion are still some factors in how we dress, there are many more influences in what we choose to wear. Time and time again, designers reference historical styles and push them into modern trends. Subcultures illustrate how a particular way of dressing can transform into a lifestyle. Ethnic fashion ties in with a specific culture’s values and beliefs. By looking at clothing in other societies around the world, as well as the many global subcultures, we can learn a lot about the depth and complexity of the members that make this world colorful and diverse.