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Cave fashion!
When and where did people first start wearing clothes? What did those clothes look like?
WHEN DID PEOPLE START WEARING CLOTHES?
It is not certain when people
first started wearing clothes however, anthropologists give estimates that range between 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. The
first clothes were made from natural elements: animal skin and furs, grasses and leaves, and bones and shells. Clothing was
often draped or tied however, simple needles made out of animal bone provide evidence of sewn leather and fur garments from
at least 30,000 years ago.
When settled Neolithic cultures
discovered the advantages of woven fibers over animal hides, the making of cloth, drawing on basketry techniques, emerged
as one of humankind's fundamental technologies. Hand and hand with the history of clothing goes the history of textiles.
WORLD FASHION HISTORY
Couture beginnings
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 done mainly by anonymous
seamstresses and high fashion descended from styles work at royal courts. Worth's success was such that he was able
to dictate to his customers what they should wear, instead of making what the customers ordered as earlier dressmakers had
done.
It was during this time that many design houses started to hire artists to sketch or paint designs for garments.
The images alone were cheaper to present to clients than acutally making the garments. 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 just presenting completed garments began with here.
20th CENTURY FASHION
During the early 20th Century, almost all high fashion came from Paris, and later on, from London. The early 1900s
were called the "Belle Epoque" or "beautiful period" by the French, and still retained the "hourglass-shaped" style of the
1800s. At this time, fashionable ladies absolutely needed another person to help them get dressed!
Fashion magazines and department store buyers from many countries sent editors to Paris fashion shows, only
to openly steal their style lines. The world held it's breath in anticipation of the latests outrageous Parisian brands.
At this time, the line between haute Couture and ready-to-wear clothing had not been clearly defined and fashion houses
often carried both made-to-measure and ready-made garments.
Fashion magazines also began near the start of the twentieth century and started using numerous photographs. These
magazines profoundly influenced the world's evolving fashion tastes.
Brillian illustrators like Paul Iribe, Georges Lepape, Erte and George Barbier drew exquisite fashion plates for theses
early magazines, virtually redefining world views regarding fashion, and beauty.
Probably the most famous of these magazines was La Gazette du bon ton, founded in 1912 by Lucien Vogel and regularly
published until 1925.
International Designers & Brands
MAJOR FASHION DESIGNERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
American:
Carlota Alfaro, Pegah Anvarian, Max Azria, James Hash,
Bill Blass, Bijan, Dana Buchman, Lane Bryant, Hattie Carnegie, Shawn Carter, Oleg Cassini, Liz Claiborne, Kenneth Cole, Shean
Combs, Carles David, Marisol Deluna, Perry Ellis, Patricia Field, Tom Ford, Eric Gaskins, Cole Haan, Heatherette, Tommy Helfiger,
Marc Jacobs, Betsey Johnson, Norma Kamali, Donna Karan, Anne Klein, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Derek Lam, Ralph Lauren, Nanette
Lepore, Beth Levine, Yohanna Logan, Bob Mackie, Mainbocher, Nicole Miller, Isaac Mizrahi, Norman Norell, Todd Oldham, Patrick
Porter, Zac Posen, Lilly Pulitzer, Cynthia Rowley. Uriel Saenz, Scaasi, Proenza Schouler, Russell Simmons, Kate Spade, Anna
Sui, Tere Tereba, John Varvatos, Vera Wang, Stuart Weitzman, Jessica Zimmerman (Americans of Korean descent: Doori Chung and Richard Chai)
Argentina: Francisco Ayala
Australia:
Collette Dinnigan, Lisa Ho, Ernest Sewn, Akira Isogawa,
Sass and Bide, Alannah Hill, Bettina Liano, Leona Edmiston, Alex Perry, Wayne Cooper, Nicola Finetti, Tsubi/Ksubi, Camilla
and Marc, Toni Maticevski, Zinnerman, Peter Morrissey, Arthur Galan, Elizabeth Finlay, Michael Azzolini
Austria: Helmut
Lang
Belgium:
Dirk Bikkembergs (1959), Ann Demeulemeester (1954), Martin
Margiela, Raf Simons, Oliver Theyskens, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dries Van Noten, Diane Von Furstenberg, Natan
Bolivia: Beatriz
Canedo Patino
Brazil:
Alexandre Herchcovitch, Francesca Giobbi, Carlos Miele,
Reinaldo Lourenco, Marcelo Sommer, Ronaldo Fraga, Oskar Metsavaht, Amir Slama, Adriana Barra, Carlos Tufvesson, Isabela Capeto,
Valdemar Iodice, Gloria Coelho, Jum Nakao, Tufi Duek, Thais Losso, Cris Barros
British:
Wale Adeyemi, Christopher Bailey, Luella Bartley, Thomas
Burberry, Ted Baker, Hussein Chalayan, Jane Norman, Hohn Galliano, Andrew Groves, Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, Alexander
McQueen, Mary Quant, Paul Smith, Vivian Westwood, Matthew Williamswon, Charles Frederick Worth, Julian MacDonald, Clements
Ribeiro, Zandra Thodes, Mulberry, Terry Mardi, Teddy James, Scott Henshall, Neil Cunningham
Canada
China
Columbian
Denmark: Marlene
Birger
Dominican Republic: Oscar
de la Renta
France:
Azzedine Alaia, Pierre Balmain, Pierre Cardin, Coco Chanel,
Andre Courreges, Christian Dior, Jacques Doucet, Louis Feraud, Julien Fournie, Maud Frizon, Jean Paul Gaultier, Nicolas Ghesquiere,
Hubert de Gevenchy, Daniel Hechter, Hermes, Charles Jourdan, Christian Lacroiz, Jeanne Lanvin, Christian Louboutin, Catherine
Malandrino, Claude Montana, Thierry Mugler, Jeanne Paquin, Jean Patou, Paul Poiret, Paco Rabanne, Yves Saint-Laurent, Hedi
Slimane, Pauline Trigere, Roger Vivier, Louis Vuitton
Germany:
Torsten Amft, Hugo Boss, Escada, Anja Gockel, Karl Lagerfeld,
Rudolph Moshammer, Jil Sander, Wolfgang Joop
Hong Kong:
Dorian Ho
Hungry:
Judith Leiber
Indian:
Hemant Trivedi, Pratik Bajpai, Ritu Kumar, Surily Goel,
Rohit Gandhi, Aki Narula, J.J. Valaya, Manish Malhotra, Ritu Beri, Shilpee Sharma, Tarun Tahiliani, Abujani and Sadneep Khosla
Italy:
Giorgio Armani, Brioni, Roberty Capucci, Roberto Cavalli,
Nino Cerruti, Nico Didonna, Kean Etro, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino Garavani, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gianfranco Ferre,
Irene Galitzine, Gucci, Max Mara, Missoni, Anna Molinari, Franco Moschino, Loro Piana, Miuccia Prada, Emilio Pucci, Nina Ricci,
Elsa Schiaparelli, Nicola Trussardi, Emanuel Ungaro, Donatella Versace, Giannni Versace, Ermenegildo Zegna, Gursewak Singh,
Japan: Issey
Miyake, Takada Kenzo and Yohji Yamamoto, Takeo Kikuchi, Rei Kawakubo, Hanae Mori, Novala Takemoto, Yohi Yamamoto, Taishi Nobukumi.
Brand names include: Evisu...
Korea: See Korean fashion
designers page on tool bar!
Latvia: Vitas
Lebanon: Elie
Saab
Malaysia:
Zang Toi, Jimmy Choo (resident in U.K.)
New
Zealand: Tanya Carlson, Cybele Wiren, Cara Cotton,
Doris de Pont, Dot Com, Adrian Hailwood, Helen Cherry, Jason Crawford and Kylee Davis, Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, Veronica
Keucke, Margarita Robertson, Tatjana Windhager and Rebecca, Maguire, Laurie Goon, Tamsin Cooper, Chris Cherry, Francis Hooper,
Elisabeth Findlay
Norway/Sweden:
Arne & Carlos
Phillipines:
Monique Lhuillier, Anthony Cruz Legarda (resident in U.S.)
Poland: Ewa
Minge
Russian:
Max Chernitsov, Chistova & Endourova, Larissa, Pogoretskaya,
Masha Tsigal, Valentin Yudashkin, Anastasia Z, Slava Zaitsev
Singapore: Benny
Ong
South Africa
Spain:
Christobal Balenciaga, Manolo Blahnik, Jesus del Pozo,
Marisol Deluna, Vacas Flacas, Victoria & Lucchino, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Amaya Arzuaga, Adolfo Dominguez, Pedro del
Hierro, Sybilla, Kina Fernandez, Theo Garrido, Marta Lastra, Antonia Miro, Miguel Palacio, Lorenzo Caprile, Margarita Neuz,
Custo Barcelona, Josep Font, Modesto Lomba, Roberto Verino
Sweden: Johan
Lindeberg, Anna Holtblad, Lars Wallin
Taiwan: David
Chu
Thailand
Turkey:
Arzu Kaprol, Atil Kutoglu, Bahar Korcan, Bora Aksu, Cemil
Ipekci, Cengiz Abazoglu, Dice Kayek, Dilek Hanif, Ertan Kayitken, Esin Maraslioglu, Evrin Timur, Faruk Sarac, Hakan Yildirim,
Hatice Gokce, Huseyin Caglayan, Ozlem Suer, Rifat Ozbek, Vural Gokcayli, Yildirim Mayruk
Venezuela: Carolina Herrera
Vietnam: Jesse Khong
What is Haute Couture?
Haute Couture is French for “High
Sewing,” or “High Dressmaking,” and refers to exclusively custom-fitted (tailored) clothing. Originally,
it referred to Charles Frederick Worth’s fashions, produced in Paris in the mid-1800s.
In France, the use of the term
: Haute Couture” is regulated by the “Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie
de Paris,” or “Ministry for Industry.”
So, only companies approved by
the Ministry for Industry can claim to be Haute Couture! The criteria for Haute
Couture were established in 1945 and updated in 1992.
Rules to qualify for this title
include:
* Made to order for each customer,
* Have a workshop in Paris that employs at least 15 people full-time,
* Must present a collection to
the Paris press each season, with at least 35 runs with clothing
for daytime wear and evening wear
As of early 2007, there were
only 10 official French haute couture member houses:
Adeline Andre, Chanel, Christian
Dior, Christian Lacroix, Dominique Sirop, Emanuel Ungaro, Franck Sorbier, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier Jean-Louis Scherrer.
Also, there are three foreign
member houses: Elie Saab, Giorgio Armani and Valentino.
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