Fashion HistoryFashion HistoryFashion HistoryFashion History

Fashion MarketingFashion Marketing

Objectives1. What are the needs satisfied by

clothing?2. What is the history of clothing?3. What is the relationship of

fashion history to today’s fashion?

Why People Wear Clothes?

• 20,000 B.C.-- people developed and wore clothes primarily for protection from the weather and environment.

• NOW-- other needs such as psychological and social needs.

Why Clothing?

Physical Needs

•Protection

•safety

Psychological Needs

•Identity

•Adornment

•Cultural identity

Social Needs

•Affiliation/ fitting in

•standards

Where fashion began?• France – considered the center of

fashion for almost 400 years from 1600s into the 1900s. Especially in Paris.

• In the 1600s, French royalty and wealthy landowners employed their own dressmakers and tailors.

Where fashion began?• After the French Revolution (1789),

haute couture design firms grew.• Haute Couture – high-fashion,

individually designed, original, handmade garments.

• Couturier – the main creator and designer for haute couture firm.

Couturiers• 1868 - French designers formed a trade

association to organize the showing of each season’s new collections in Paris and to promote the French fashion industry.

• Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne – negotiates with labor, promotes education for future fashion careers, and enforces copyright laws.

Globalization• Industrialization, technology, globalization,

and the spread of democracy help broaden the demand for fashion.

• Growth of a middle class with income to purchase fashions, not just basic clothing

• Fashion shifted from designer to customer• Other fashion cities- Milan and New York

Mass Production• Knock-offs - Available for

purchase at reasonable prices• Haute Couture houses fight back

by copying their own garments in less expensive versions and selling them to retailers.

• Pret-a-porter – ready-to wear

The early 1900s• In 1909, the American fashion magazine

Vogue, featured a woman in a loose-fitting style of dress.

• By 1915, styles continued to soften.• The invention of the 1st manufactured

fiber rayon, or artificial silk• Clothing that was more functional for

women who were entering the workforce.

The 1920s• Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel – 1st designer

to introduce sportswear garments for everyday wear. As well as trousers.

• Promoted styles associated with flappers

• “the little black dress”• 1926, the Women’s Fashion Institute

designed the “one hour dress.”

The 1930s – 1950s• Dupont invented nylon, less

expensive than silk to make hosiery

• WWII fabric shortages• 1947, Christian Dior; long hem

lines, narrow shoulders and tightly fitted bodices with long, full, or narrow skirts. “The New Look”

The 1960’s• Hippie style – fashion consisting of

clothing from the Middle and Far East

• Use of bright colors, peasant embroidery, cheesecloth, and safari jackets

The 1970’s• Disco style – gold lame, leopard print, stretch

halter jumpsuits, and white clothing that glowed in ultraviolet light

• Saturday Night Fever• Punk – intentionally torn clothing worn by

young people with limited income (“Doc Martens”)

• Feminist Movement – influenced women’s styles, such as shorter skirts and pantsuits in the workplace.

The 1980’s • “the power look” – a uniform style of

suits and blazers with shoulder pads.• Men – a more casual style of dress;

“business casual”• people no longer felt that high price

determined high fashion• fitness conscious – synthetic fabrics

with easy care.

The 1990’s• Americans began dressing down, or

less formally• Comfort of sport clothes and athletic

clothing became a wardrobe staple.• Grunge – a style started by youth

culture in the Pacific Northwest region of the US. Messy, uncombed, not too much effort.

Mid 1990’s and TODAYOscar de la Renta noted in New York Times

Magazine, “Today there is no fashion, really. There are just…choices. Women dress today to reveal their personalities. They used to reveal the designer’s personality. Until the 70s, women listened to designers. Now women want to do it their own way. There are no boundaries.