Friday, April 8, 2011

Die Preety,Die Original .




The UnderGround Of Chanel

CHANEL IN A FLESH

Among the key designers who made a bold and lasting impression on women's fashion in the twentieth century, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883–1971) deserves special recognition. Born in Saumur, in the Loire Valley of France, Chanel survived an impoverished childhood and strict convent education. The difficulties of her early life inspired her to pursue a radically different lifestyle, first on the stage, where she acquired the nickname "Coco," and then as a milliner.



With the help of one of the male admirers who would provide key financial assistance and social connections over the course of her career, Chanel opened her first shop in Paris in 1913, followed by another in the resort town of Deauville. Selling hats and a limited line of garments, Chanel's shops developed a dedicated clientele who quickly made her practical sportswear a great success. Much of Chanel's clothing was made of jersey, a choice of fabric both unusual and inspired. Until the designer began to work with it, jersey was more commonly used for men's underwear. With her financial situation precarious in the early years of her design career, Chanel purchased jersey primarily for its low cost. The qualities of the fabric, however, ensured that the designer would continue to use it long after her business became profitable. The fabric draped well and suited Chanel's designs, which were simple, practical, and often inspired by men's wear, especially the uniforms prevalent when World War I broke out in 1914.

As her fashion-conscious customers fled Paris at the beginning of the war, Chanel's boutiques in Deauville and Biarritz flourished. Chanel's uncluttered styles, with their boxy lines and shortened skirts, allowed women to leave their corsets behind and freed them for the practical activities made necessary by the war. Elements of these early designs became hallmarks of the Chanel look (1975.7; 1984.28a-c; 1976.29.7) Chanel took great pride as a woman in designing for other women, and by 1919, at the age of thirty-two, she enjoyed huge success, with clients around the world. Soon after, she relocated her couture house in Paris to 31 Rue Cambon, which remains the center of operations for the House of Chanel today.


As her legacy continues today,
Following Chanel's death in 1971, several of her assistants designed the couture and ready-to-wear lines until Karl Lagerfeld (born 1938) took over the haute couture design in 1983 and ready-to-wear in 1984. Lagerfeld, like Chanel at the time of her comeback, looked to past designs for the secret to his success. His designs incorporated signature Chanel details, tweed fabrics, colors, gold chains, quilt-stitched leather, and the linked "CC" logo. In later collections, Lagerfeld became more irreverent, deconstructing some of the ladylike polish of Chanel's 1960s looks. Playing with the fact that Chanel's favorite jersey fabric had been used for men's underwear at the turn of the twentieth century, Lagerfeld even incorporated men's T-shirts and briefs into his designs (1993.104.2a-c). Nonetheless, Lagerfeld's ability to continuously mine the Chanel archive for inspiration testifies to the importance of Gabrielle Chanel's contributions to women's fashion in the twentieth century.





Source: Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883–1971) and the House of Chanel
Thematic Essay
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
TWIGGY


 

The Existance of Fashion



The first fashion designer who was not merely a dressmaker was Charles Frederick Worth (1826-1895). Before the former draper set up his nayshon 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.



It was during this period that many design houses began to hire artists to sketch or paint designs for garments. The images alone could be presented to clients much more cheaply than by producing an actual sample garment in the workroom. If the client liked the design, they ordered it and the resulting garment made money for the house. Thus, the tradition of designers sketching out garment designs instead of presenting completed garments on models to customers began as an economy.
Fashion is a discipline that has existed since time immemorial as an ever-present element in civilized society. How else would it have been possible to live together in society without clothing ourselves? The truth is that fashion can be traced back to the days of Egyptian civilization, when fabrics and jewelry were used to adorn the bodies of the pharaohs, and useful garments were created to protect the skin of peasants who worked from dawn until dusk.



An explanation of the entire history of fashion would take up many pages, so in order for you to gain a basic understanding, the best way is to give a brief overview of the important figures and styles that have defined each era. In short, a bit of history with a few proper names thrown in for good measure.