Fashion History
Fashion Marketing
Objectives
1. 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.
Physical Needs
•Protection
•safety
Psychological
Needs
•Identity
Why
Social
Clothing? Needs
•Adornment
•Affiliation/
fitting in
•Cultural identity
•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 TODAY
Oscar 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.