the forgotten, yet notable: part I

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I found this gem during one of my many trips to NW 23rd Avenue this summer. This fashion bible begins with the success of Jeanne Lanvin, the creator of the oldest fashion house in the world, and ends with Stella McCartney, the daughter of Paul and mastermind behind high-end fashion with a green conscience. 

Though several of the designers depicted in this book are practically forgotten, current fashion will forever be indebted to these designers. 

Madeleine Vionnet, a French designer, was the first to blend elegance with comfort. Vionnet eliminated the corset from her softly-draped creations and experimented with cuts that flowed carelessly around the body. 

During my travels through Europe last year, the statues lining the walls of Greek museums were adorned in marble and stone dresses, yet the craftsmanship made them appear as silk flowing freely around the statue's body. The Louvre in Paris also displays this Greek artistry with one of its most famous statues, Nike of Samothrace. Though her dresses were not carved of stone, it is clear that Vionnet found her inspiration in the beauty of Greek culture. In fact, her fashion house displayed frescoes of Greek beauties wearing Vionnet designs.

Though Vionnet was the first to eliminate the corset from her designs, Paul Poiret took the credit for the abolishment of this undergarment. Poiret's most controversial designs were pants for women--which were hardly considered acceptable for women during the early 1900s. He also had a hand in creating t-shirt dresses and "lampshade" tunics. Like Vionnet, Poiret's garments were inspired by culture and art. The Russian Ballets (Ballets Russes) inspired Poiret to create turbans, coats with kimono sleeves, richly decorated tunics and flat slippers.

Poiret spent time traveling Russia and America to promote his label--he had an instinct for marketing. He introduced window displays and gave fashion photography an artistic edge. However, the clientele of his competitors, such as Coco Chanel, forced Poiret into debt. He died in 1944, homeless. 

The world of fashion is cutthroat. Designers come and go, but their designs stay inspirations. Culture and art, as evidenced by Vionnet and Poiret, play the leading role of inspiration. Though Paris was and remains the center of the fashion world, French designers were influenced by various other cultures and art movements of the time. 

the beginning.

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1943. This is the year of the first New York City fashion week--or Press Week, as it is originally known. This highly anticipated week of models strutting haute couture and upcoming trends down the catwalk began with Eleanor Lambert, a fashion publicist.

During the early 1900s, Paris was the center of the world of fashion. Before World War II, American designers found inspiration within the style of the French. However, when the Germans occupied France in 1940, those accustomed to traveling across the Atlantic Ocean for Paris fashion week had to find their inspirations elsewhere. Designers were free to create collections without the added pressure of the French.

Previously obsessed with Paris couture, Vogue and Harper's Bazaar began featuring American designers after Lambert presented the American sector of fashion. More importantly, these designers were given credit for their work and American fashion began to make a name for itself.

Nowadays, models, buyers and editors assemble twice a year in the fashion capitals of the world to drool over forthcoming trends.

However, unlike fashion week, I hope to take you--the reader--back through the eras of fashion in hopes of discovering how our style came to be. After all, fashion is what you adopt when you don't know who you are.