| |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
"Luminous Art & Design :: Art & Artists"
Fashion Design :: Biography and Books"
|
|
 |
|
 |
| | |
Fashion design is the art of creating clothing. It has started in 1858 with Charles Worth, who opened the first haute couture house in Paris. Fashion design can be divided into three categories: haute couture, ready-to-wear and mass market design.
|
| |
|
|
|
Fashion design is the art of creating wearing apparel and lifestyle accessories. Over the centuries, the word ‘fashion’ has acquired a specific association with the design, making, and wearing of clothing. It implies an awareness of changes in styles of dress and personal appearance. Fashion designers design clothing and accessories.
The origins of fashion in clothing started in the 14th century. Before this period, the dress of both sexes was usually long flowing dresses with full-length lines. In the middle of the 14th century, the male over-garment shortened from calf-length to short tunics barely covering the buttocks. These tops were worn over leggings or closely-fitted trousers, sometimes with padding emphasizing the contours of the body.
Although anonymous seamstresses were responsible for many innovations before, the concept of fashion design is considered to have started in 1858 with Charles Frederick Worth (1826-1895). He was the first person to sew their label into the garments and he opened the first true haute couture house in Paris. Worth was able to dictate to his customers what they should wear, instead of following their lead as earlier dressmakers had done. Worth created new designs and displayed them on human models for his clients. His clientele were mostly royalties, aristocrats and the rich bourgeoisie that treated him like an artist. Fashion from this period until the 1950s was mainly about women’s clothing.
Until the Second World War, most fashion originated in Paris. The other countries depended on fashion magazines and department stores that sent people to the fashion shows in Paris to buy and photograph the garments. These designs were copied or new garments were made in the same styles. The fashion magazines had a great influence on the public taste outside Paris. After the war, Paris started to lose the reputation as center of fashion and mass market clothes became popular.
Fashion design can be divided into three main categories; haute couture, ready-to-wear and mass market design.
Haute couture was popular until the 1950s. The garments were made for individual customers from expensive fabrics and usually hand-sewn with extreme attention to detail. Now, ‘haute couture’ is a name that can be only used by firms in Paris that meet well-defined standards. However, the term is often used for all high-fashion custom-fitted clothing.
Ready-to-wear clothing is not made for individual customers, but fashion design in standard clothing sizes that are very exclusive and produced only in limited numbers and only for a limited time.
The fashion industry of the 21st century depends more on the mass market. Ready-to-wear clothes are produced in large numbers and standard sizes. To make the clothing affordable to the large market, cheap materials and production techniques are used.
Some fashion designers design haute couture for individual clients, like Georgio Armani, Cristian Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier. However¸ most fashion designers work for apparel manufacturers. They work as a team of individual designers under the direction of a designer director and create design for the mass market under a brand name as Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren.
|
| |
|
|
|
