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By its very definition, fashion is something that is constantly changing. From the drape jacket and
skinny, drainpipe trousers of 1950’s teddy boys, through the disco-influenced three-piece flared suits of the 1970s
and on to the urban ‘trainers and loose-fit jeans’ look of the 1990s. Fashion has always been influenced by culture
and it reflects how ‘in’ someone is with the current popular mode of expression.Whilst the 1990s saw ‘casual’ become more popular than ever, such fashion understatements
could only ever have so much shelf-life before the next generation of trend-setting trailblazers came along and created their
own identity.By its very definition, fashion is something that is constantly changing. From the drape jacket and skinny, drainpipe trousers of 1950’s teddy boys, through the disco-influenced three-piece flared suits of
the 1970s and on to the urban ‘trainers and loose-fit jeans’ look of the 1990s. Fashion has always been influenced
by culture and it reflects how ‘in’ someone is with the current popular mode of expression. Whilst the 1990s saw ‘casual’ become more popular
than ever, such fashion understatements could only ever have so much shelf-life before the next generation of trend-setting
trailblazers came along and created their own identity.
Indeed, the hottest look this season,
whilst borrowing a little from previous fashion styles, is very different to the fashion of only ten years ago. The dressing-down,
anti-fashion statements of the 90s has been replaced with much smarter attire, combining the slender cut of 1950s and 1960s
style, with a more modern look. Without doubt, suits are back in a big way.
As with most new trends, it only takes a browse through the latest music magazines to see what the
latest fashions are. The tracksuit top and baggy jeans of the 1990s rock and pop star has now been replaced with a skinny
black suit and slim tie. Indeed, it is now fashionable again to wear a suit informally as well as formally. That is to say,
they are no longer reserved for special occasions such as job interviews or weddings.
Of course, most men have at least one suit in their closet that they dust down for job interviews,
weddings and any other occasion that is deemed special enough to merit smart attire. And some men maybe even have a few
suits if they are in a job that has a strict dress code.
but a generic, bland suit still won’t
convey the right image in the workplace. If the suit is more than a few years old it may look dated and it may not even
fit as well as it once did.
Also, it’s
important to look smart whilst not looking too stuffy. Investing in this new trend is sure to create a better impression
at work, as it’s well known that the way we dress not only affects the way we are perceived by other people, but also
the way we feel about ourselves; if we dress sharp, we’ll act sharp.
So, whether it’s a new job in the New Year, or a night on the town with a group of friends,
this season’s hottest look will ensure the right image is portrayed. A skinny black suit is the height of fashion,
and complimented with a slim tie and white shirt, this will go a long way towards looking the part. A little effort can go
a long way!
Max Azria is a fashion designer of
Tunisian descent who founded the popular midscale women's clothing line BCBG in 1989.
Originally from Tunisia, Max Azria was born in SFAX (Tunisia); he entered the fashion industry
in PARIS. Moving to California in the 1980s, he created BCBG, an acronym for the French saying bon chic, bon genre, which
in English means "good style, good attitude."
Max
Azria's wife Lubov Azria runs all aspects of the company with him, she decides on the style influences for each season
and the store decor.
BCBG was designed to bring
European sophistication to American women. BCBG's trendy, chic, and unique styles and patterns were immediately popularized
in California and throughout the West Coast, becoming particularly favored in Washington, Arizona and Nevada. After the
company opened a flagship store in New York City, BCBG became internationally known in the fashion world.
Max Azria later created an upscale collection known as
The Max Azria Collection sold only through selected company-owned boutique stores, before launching BCBGirls, BCBG//Attitude,
To The Max, Parallel and acquiring the Hervé Léger label. The company has recently taken over the Rave, G+G,
and Ravegirls stores and created Max Rave - a line of clothes that are for juniors and are accessible at more affordable
prices than the couture brands but with the same high quality. The company opened its first freestanding "Max Azria"
boutique on Los Angeles' Melrose Avenue in 1993. Newly added are shops in West Palm Beach, New York's SoHo, Montreal
and Southern California's Newport Beach. More recently the BCBG Max Azria brand sells in the United Kingdom as a concession
within Harvey Nichols stores in London,
We all know that each decade is marked
by different fashion trends. Fashion has become a visual timeline, marking each year with different trends.
American society has been greatly influenced by fashion
and style. We are in constant search looking for clothes and accessories which are “in style”, and the 20th
century is probably the time when people saw major changes in fashion.
The 1900s was influenced by cars where girls had to wear a dustcoat to avoid their clothes from
being dirtied by dust from the road. The 1920s was a time when jazz music flourished and the flapper style short fringed
dresses glammed up with long pearls were in. 1930s was a time when the women just copied the fashion trend of movie stars.
1940s was a time of war so the fashion was towards a uniform like attire with padded shoulders, close tailored outfits and
short skirts.
The 1950s saw the comeback of full
skirts which are cinched in the waist. This is the time when Marilyn Monroe was so famous. The 1960s saw fashion which was
patterned from influential women such as Jacqueline Kennedy. The 1970s was the disco period, tie dye shirts and bell bottom
pants. The 1980s was changed by Madonna and everyone copied her off the shoulder sweat-shirt, leggings and skirt. 1990s
was sleek and sophisticated with acid jeans.
Fashion
is forever changing, but what would not change is the big influence and major statements that each decade makes with their
fashion trends.
The revolution in men's fashion
has been gaining pace for some years now. First, the rise of the world 'metrosexual' - used to refer to trendy men
who took care to dress well and look good - brought the growing male awareness of style to the forefront. However, in the
last couple of years, so many men have begun to take an interest in fashion and clothing that singling certain males out
as 'metrosexual' seems to have little meaning: everyone's in on it.
In large part, the rise in male fashion consciousness has to do with the emergence of popular style
icons as household names. Trends in men's fashion have often been swayed by cultural figures: from the distinctive clothes
of Mick Jagger and David Bowie to the original haircuts of anyone from The Beatles to Kevin Keegan. But with the meteoric
success of David Beckham as a well-dressed celebrity in the limelight throughout the 1990s, it became 'stylish'
to be stylish again - and men seemed to start taking acute care of their clothes, hair and general appearance.
While other famous sportsmen - like
Amir Khan and Kevin Pietersen - have been making inroads into the fashion industry, it's musicians that are leading
the new generation of male style icons today. Pete Doherty's relationship with Kate Moss, each chapter of which has been
meticulously catalogued in the press, instantly projected him into the consciousness of style gurus the world over, making
him an instant fashion idol of men keen to keep up with up-and-coming clothing trends.
Since then, the dandy-esque ways of a range of men in the public eye have become an inspiration
to the fashion-conscious in Britain: from Russell Brand to David Tennant, men's fashion trends have been immortalised
on TV, in film and photography. The result has been that investment in male retail stores has increased considerably, with
leading British fashion retailer Topman having recently opened a new flagship store in Cardiff - the store's biggest
premises outside of London.
Moreover, the
recent upturn in the men's fashion stakes has had an equally influential effect on teenagers, as much so as on young
professionals and the under-40s. Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, for example, is often held up as an exemplary model
of men's fashion, while young bands like the Arctic Monkeys, The Klaxons and The View are frequently lauded for their
irreverent approach to clothing and hairstyles.
Christian Marie Marc Lacroix (May 16,
1951 in Arles, France) is a high-end French fashion designer. Born in Arles, France, at a young age he began sketching historical
costumes and fashions. He studied history of art at the University of Montpellier and then enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris.
While working on a dissertation on dress in French 18th-century painting, Lacroix also pursued a program in museum studies
at the Louvre Museum. In 1978 he joined the French firm Hermès, where he worked on color schemes and the execution
of designs.
From 1981 to 1987 Lacroix
worked at the fashion house of Jean Patou, and in 1987 he opened his own couture and ready-to-wear business. With his background
in historical costume and clothing, Lacroix soon made headlines with his opulent, fantasy creations, including the short
puffball skirt (“le pouf”), rose prints, and low décolleté necklines. He quoted widely from other
styles—from fashion history (the corset and the crinoline), from folklore, and from many parts of the world—and
he mixed his quotations in a topsy-turvy manner. He favored the hot colors of the Mediterranean region, a hodgepodge of
patterns, and experimental fabrics, sometimes handwoven in local workshops.
Mulberry is a British fashion company
known for creating luxury leather goods for men and women. The brand has since grown and now includes womenswear, menswear,
and most recently, footwear for women.
Mulberry
was established in 1971 with modest roots in Somerset, England, and on the shelves of London fashion emporium, Biba. The
Mulberry quickly grew to become the first British lifestyle brand, and at the time, favourites from Mulberry included the
leather agenda and the poacher bags. The start of the 21st century saw the creation of two timeless and iconic Mulberry
bags – The Bayswater and The Roxanne – which only seem to gain in popularity as the seasons go by. Other best
sellers include the unisex Antony messenger-style bag and the mabel bag for women. Stylish British celebrities Kate Moss,
Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller are often seen carrying Mulberry bags and wearing Mulberry clothing.
Mulberry is the only British luxury brand retaining and investing
in its UK factory. Instead of closing down the factory, (called The Rookery and located in Somerset, England), to save production
costs, Mulberry has plans on expanding the factory to increase the number of their bags produced in the UK.
In 2006, Mulberry launched an apprenticeship program to
encourage local youths to learn production skills, sustaining a way of working that has lasted generations and providing
training and employment for the local community. When the apprentices graduate from the program, they are guaranteed a job
at the factory and are encouraged to work their way up through the ranks to become managers.
Mulberry has stores all over the world, including Europe, America and Asia. In England there are
Mulberry stores located in London, Manchester and Leeds.
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Fashion will always be a part of our
lives. Not all people are attracted to what is new and hip, and styles vary with every person’s tastes. Even so, every
time you walk out the door and stop to look in the mirror if your clothes are suited accordingly, you are trying to make
a good fashionable impression.
Fashion
is a general term that describes whether something fits with the popular mode of expression at a given time. But, at that
specific time there may be a lot of expression modes taking place, and none related to the other. If something is fashionable
at that point, that means it fits one of those styles. Let’s talk about the evolution of hip hop clothing.
This is a trend that started with the
early hip hop singers like LL Cool J, Run DMC, Kurtis Blow and many others. While there were a lot of things that made a
statement about the newly founded culture, like haircuts and jewelry, the most important of them all was hip hop clothing.
Back then, the clothes were mostly black-green-and-red.
The 80s hip hop fashion also implied dreadlocks as haircuts and Africa chains as jewelry, which stated that this culture
was a part of your life. With the passing of time and the evolution of the music, hip hop clothing also took a turn.
The 1990s brought with them baseball caps and colored
clothes for some. Other singers were inspired by prison uniforms, which turned into the no belt fashion. The hip hop clothing
trends in America were also divided according to regions. The west favored flannel shirts and sneakers, while the east was
often represented by hooded tops and boots. Southern trend introduced gold teeth as fashionable.
The late 1990s also introduced new
entries. Mafioso style became popular with alligator skin shoes and hats, with Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G. as the pioneers,
but also shiny suits with platinum jewelry were then a pleasant combination, something usually worn by P. Diddy.
All fashion trends started from a hip hop star.
Whatever they decided was fashionable, the hip hop honeys embraced without a second thought. Everyone was free to decide
what clothes they would wear to make a statement, but not all clothes were in tone with the current trends.
You may wonder what I mean by hip hop honeys. Well, these
are the people that follow this culture anytime, anywhere. They know exactly what the new trends are, the kind of clothes
that can be matched and what jewelry to wear with those clothes.
In the early days, hip hop honeys could find clothes to fit their tastes and culture in a relatively
small number of brick and mortar stores. However, since the internet has now become more like a necessity than a whim, the
stores have taken a virtual form. It takes only a computer, an internet connection and a few clicks to reach a reliable
source of hip hop clothing.
Madonna has lived in the limelight
for over a decade. She succeeded in adapting to her constantly changing environment and even succeeding in making her environment
adapt to her.
Back in the 80's, Madonna
first came out, clothed in leather and accessorized with bows, lace, fishnet stocking and religious effigies draped her
neck. The virginal rebel was an instant hit, with platinum locks, a beauty mark and a vocal range what was not to like?
Her fashion sense was a slew of edgy plus girly an effective eye catcher.
Madonna was like the seasons, her music and changed to fit her lifestyle more than needing to fit
into other people's lifestyles.
She was a hit because she brought fashion
onto the stage, she created different looks that was copied again and again. Perhaps her cone shaped bra wasn't street
vogue but every performer had without a doubt copied the dominatrix fashion.
Her island look in La Isla Bonita has graced dozens of magazine fashion spreads. Material Girl was
not only top of the music list but was additional advertising for jewelers like Tiffany & Co.
During her portrayal in the movie Argentina, she was dressed in
tailored dark suits favored by Evita Peron. The wardrobe gave way to many hit songs that spawned from the lifestyle that
was Evita and Argentina.
In the 1990's
when most of the music was centered towards rock and grunge groups, Madonna still permeated the airwaves and the fashion
world. Designers here and there clamoured to have the honour of dressing her up during the Awards Nights and various functions
that would definitely keep her in the spotlight for more than your average 15 minutes of fame.
Born in the East End of London, he
is the son of a taxi driver, Alexander McQueen started making dresses for his three sisters at a young age and announced
his intention of becoming a fashion designer.
McQueen
left Rokeby School at 16, landing himself an apprenticeship with Savile Row tailors Anderson & Sheppard, then working
for Gieves & Hawkes and the famous theatrical costumiers Angels and Bermans. Whilst on Savile Row, McQueen's clients
included Mikhail Gorbachev and Charles, Prince of Wales. At the age of 20, he spent a period of time working for Koji Tatsuno
before traveling to Milan, Italy and working for Romeo Gigli.
McQueen returned to London in 1994 and applied to London's most prestigious fashion school, Central Saint
Martins College of Art and Design to work as a pattern cutter tutor. Due to the strength of his portfolio he was persuaded
by the Head of the Masters course to enroll on the course as a student. He received his Masters degree in Fashion design
and famously, his graduation collection was bought in its entirety by influential fashion stylist Isabella Blow, who was
said to have persuaded McQueen to change his name from Lee to Alexander (his middle name) when he subsequently launched
his fashion career.
Alexander McQueen's
early runway collections developed his reputation for controversy and shock tactics (earning the title "enfant terrible"
and "the hooligan of English fashion"), with trousers aptly named "bumsters", and a collection entitled
"Highland Rape". It has also been claimed that he was on income support and that he needed to change his name
for his first show so that he could continue to receive benefits. McQueen is known for his lavish, unconventional runway
shows, such as a recreation of a shipwreck for his spring 2003 collection, spring 2005’s human chess game and his
fall 2006 show, Widows of Culloden, which featured a life-sized hologram of supermodel Kate Moss, dressed in yards of rippling
fabric.
Stella McCartney was born in London, the second child of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and Linda
Eastman. She is named after her maternal great-grandmothers: both of Linda McCartney's grandmothers were named Stella.
As a young girl, McCartney travelled the globe with her parents and their pop group Wings, along with her siblings: older
half-sister Heather (who was legally adopted by Paul McCartney), older sister Mary, and younger brother James. According to
her father, the name of Wings was inspired by Stella's difficult birth. As his daughter was being born by emergency caesarean
section, Paul sat outside the operating room and prayed that she be born "on the wings of an angel." Wings toured
from shortly after her birth in 1971 until 1980.
Despite their fame, the McCartneys wanted their children to lead
as normal a life as possible so Stella and her siblings attended the local state school in East Sussex, one of them being
Bexhill College. McCartney has said that while attending state school, she was a victim of bullying, as well as a bully herself.
Stella McCartney became interested
designing clothes at age 12, when she made her first jacket. Three years later, she interned for Christian Lacroix, working
on his first fashion design collection, honing her skills on Savile Row for a number of years.
She studied fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in the early 1990s.
Her graduation collection in 1995 was modelled by friends and supermodels Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Kate Moss –
for free – at the graduation runway show. The collection was shown to a song penned by her famous father, called "Stella
May Day."[4] The show made front-page news, and the entire collection was sold to Tokio, a London boutique. The designs
were licensed to Browns, Joseph, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.
In 1998 she designed her sister Mary's wedding dress for her wedding to television producer
Alistair Donald.
As a strict vegetarian,
McCartney does not use fur or leather in her designs and supports PETA. Some of McCartney's designs have text that elaborates
on her "no animal" policy; for example, one of her jackets for Adidas says, "suitable for sporty vegetarians"
on the sleeve. Her father is also known for supporting PETA by protesting against designers who use animal fur and those
who wear it. However, Stella will use wool, silk, and other animal-derived fabrics in her designs.
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton (pronounced /lwi vɥitɔ̃/),
or sometimes shortened to LV, is a French luxury fashion and leather goods brand and company, one of the main divisions of
LVMH headquartered in Paris, France. Known especially for bags and trunks, the company collaborates with prominent figures
for marketing and design (most notably supermodel Gisele Bündchen and fashion designer Marc Jacobs). Internationally
renowned and highly regarded for name recognition in the fashion world, as a result LV has become one of the most counterfeited
contemporary luxury brands.
LV is also one of the
oldest fashion houses in the world, having started in 1854. It sells its products strictly through its own retail stores,
small boutiques in high-end department stores, and online (as an effort against counterfeit). It primarily competes with Versace,
Gucci, Chanel, Armani, Prada and similar luxury fashion brands.
Riccardo Tisci (b. 1974 or 1975) is
an Italian fashion designer. He graduated from London's Central Saint Martins Academy, and in 2005 was named creative
director for Givenchy womenswear, haute couture and in May 2008 he was named as menswear and accessories designer of the
Givenchy men's division.
His apparent
fascination with Gothic touches (dark, languid dresses on sickly models for fall couture) and space-age minimalism (one
ready-to-wear show featured white-clad models drifting aimlessly around a sterile-white sphere) have drawn new attention
to the Givenchy brand. Reviews and output so far have been mixed and inconsistent, but many, including influential fashion
critics (such as Cathy Horyn of the New York Times and Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune) have homed in on
Tisci's conceptual leanings, as well as his future potential for revitalizing the Givenchy brand and infusing it with
his precision and imagination.
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