Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories which generally mirror the cultural and social influences of that time. This includes all designs worn to create a statement about the individual or group of individuals. Historians use fashion design as a means of determining social and cultural values particularly derived from paintings and ancient artifacts. Fashion design throughout history has had a direct correlation with status, position and religion. Such an example would be a Roman Toga, which was originally worn by all Romans and then became exclusive, only being allowed to be worn by true citizens of Rome. Fashion design is not restricted to fads (often confused with fashion design), which is generally known as the "current look" or "street wear". It covers everything from uniforms to headwear and is not restricted to western culture. Technically all clothing created for a purpose where design to serve this purpose is taken into consideration is fashion design. For example, the Queen of England’s coronation costume is fashion design as is the continual restructuring and upgrading of an army uniform. A monks costume is also technically fashion design belonging to the monk’s culture. The most important aspect of fashion design, which delineates it from just a design, is that it continually modifies the garment. Men's clothing is a good example of this. A shirt for men is generally similar in structure but "re-inventing" it makes it fashion design. It is often and wrongly perceived that fashion design is restricted to high fashion and label names. Below is a history of 20th century fashion more or less because this is the period Fashion Design grew from serving a practical purpose to a recognized form of art.

The first fashion designer who was not merely a dressmaker was Charles Frederick Worth (1826–1895). Before the former draper set up his maison couture (fashion house) in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses, and high fashion descended from styles worn at royal courts. Worth's success was such that he was able to dictate to his customers what they should wear, instead of following their lead as earlier dressmakers had done. With his unprecedented success, his customers could attach a name and a label to his designs once they learned that they were from the House of Worth, thus starting the tradition of having the designer of a house be not only the creative head but the symbol of the brand as well. (Foreshadowing another contemporary trend, the House of Worth remained in business long after its founder's deathes in 1895, continuing until Worth's great-grandson closed the house in 1952.)

Worth's former apprentice Paul Poiret opened his own fashion house in 1904, melding the styles of Art Nouveau and aestheic dress with Paris fashion. His early Art Deco creations signalled the demise of the corset from female fashion.

Following in Worth's and Poiret's footsteps were: Patou, Vionnet, Fortuny, Molyneux ( who taught Dior, Balmain and Lanvin ), Lanvin, Chanel, Mainbocher, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and Dior. Hand in hand with clothing, haute couture accessories evolved internationally with such names as Guccio Gucci, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Thierry Hermès, Judith Leiber, and others.

The early twentieth century

Throughout the 1920s and '30s, all high fashion originated in Paris, and to some extent London. American and British fashion magazines sent editors to the Paris fashion shows. Department stores sent buyers to the Paris shows, where they purchased garments to copy (and openly stole the style lines and trim details of others). Both made-to-measure salons and ready-to-wear departments featured the latest Paris trends, adapted to the stores' assumptions about the lifestyles and pocket books of their targeted American customers.

Post-War fashion

Most fashion houses closed during occupation of Paris during World War II, and several designers including Mainbocher permanently relocated to New York. Nazi Germany continued to support some couture during the Occupation of Paris. Hollywood, largely underwritten by New York garment manufacturers, became the fashion focus during WWII. Paris recovered its primacy in the post-war era with Dior's New Look, but Paris was never the sole arbiter of trends again.

By the early 1960s, celebrities were becoming the new Fashion icons, even though they in turn wore designs from the couturiers of the day: influential "partnerships" of celebrity and high-fashion designer included Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy, and Jackie Kennedy and Oleg Cassini.

The rise of British fashion in the mid-sixties and designers such as Mary Quant and Betsey Johnson signalled a temporary end of French dominance. Taking their cue from street fashion, these designers catered to a younger consumer and offered retailers a new source of inspiration. Vivienne Westwood's street-inspired styles "created” the image which is now generally considered as Punk.

The trend dictation of the old couture houses was over. yeah yeah yeah!

Modern fashion design and designers

Modern fashion design is roughly divided into two categories, haute couture, and ready-to-wear. A designer's haute-couture collection is meant exclusively for private customers and is custom sized, cut and sewn.

To qualify as an official "haute couture" house, a designer or company must belong to the Syndical Chamber for Haute Couture, a Paris-based body of designers governed by the French Department of Industry that includes American, Italian, Japanese, and other designers as well. A haute couture house must show collections twice yearly with at least 35 separate outfits in each show. It is often shown on the catwalk and in private salons.

Ready-to-wear collections are not custom made. They are standard sized which makes them more suitable for larger productions. Ready-to-wear collections can also be divided into designers/createur collections and Confection collections. Designer/createur collections have a high quality, a superb finish and a unique cut and design. These collections are the most trendsetting compared to Haute Couture and Confection. Designer/createurs ready to wear collections often contain concept items that represent a certain philosophy or theory. These items are not so much created for sales but just to make a statement. The designer's ready-to-wear collection is also presented on the international catwalks by people who do fashion modeling.

Confection collections are the ones we see most commonly in our shops. These collections are designed by stylists. The brands that produce these collections aim only for a mass public and are in general not searching for new grammar for the language or a new point of view on/of fashion. Although many modern fashion designers work in a "traditional" way -- making clothes that are fancy and expensive, but still based on standard/traditional construction and design concepts -- some designers have broken these "rules" over the years. These include some now-deceased designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli, who worked in the thirties, forties, and fifties; Japanese designers Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, and Clarence Davis from the early eighties to the present; and designers from the mid-nineties onward. An example of a modern-day rule-breaker is Martin Margiela and Warmenhoven & Venderbos. These designers approach clothing, Fashion and lifestyle from new angles and explore also the boundaries of Fashion itself in order to create new concepts and views for fashion design. Their collections are not only restricted to garments (ready to wear as well as couture) and other fashion-related products, but also contain work in other media. The works of this breed of designers can also be placed in a certain Art movement.

Most fashion designers attend art school. Fashion design courses are considered applied arts just like graphic design and interior design.

The types of fashion designer -- stylist versus designer -- are often confused. A stylist inspires his/her designs on existing things, trends and designers collections. A designer starts from scratch; he/she develops a unique concept and translates this into garment collections, other lifestyle related products or a statement in various other types of media. Some designers approach their work just as a fine arts painter or sculptor.

However, there are types of fashion designers that only design clothings and are against any form of publicity, these are call anti-fashionism/anti-fashion, namely Maurizio Altieri of Carpe Diem; he doesn't advertise, and refuses all editorials in defiance of the standards of the fashion.

Inspiration for fashion designers comes from a wide range of things and cannot be pinpointed exactly. However, just like all artists, they tend to keep an eye on things going on world-wide to inspire themselves towards making their future clothes lines. Most fashion designers besides being trained in designing are also trained as pattern makers and modeleurs. A typical design team is made up of one or more: designer(s), pattern maker(s) /modeleur(s), sample maker(s), buyer(s) and salesman (men). For presentations and catwalk shows the help of hair dressers, make-up artists, photographers, modeling agencies, the model and other support companies/professions is called upon.

See also

• List of fashion designers
• List of grands couturiers
• Fashion
• Fashion Week
• Haute couture
• Resort wear

References

• Hawes, Elizabeth (1938), Fashion is Spinach, Random House
• Steele, Valerie (1988), Paris Fashion: A Cultural History, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195044657
• DeJean, Joan (2005), The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour, The Free Press, ISBN 978-0-7432-6413-6

External links

• fashion designer @ internetrends.com
• FMD - fashion designer database
• Mens high-fashion clothing trends
• NPR Story about The Essence of Style (and Louis XIV) by Joan DeJean

Fashion design | Arts occupations | Fashion designers

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