History of fasHion

New Look to Now

J u n e M a r s h

7

he light was thin and the air freezing in Paris on

the morning of February 12, 1947. It was Europe’s

coldest winter since 1870 and the city was still

suffering from wartime shortages. There was little

fuel, electricity was rationed and the streets were

covered in snow.

The Paris couture trade, which had dominated

international fashion since the late 18th century, was in

a precarious state. French newspapers were on strike

and the majority of American buyers were on their way

home, not wishing to stay in Paris outside of the official

schedule and having already completed business with

the established couture houses.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Dior and the New Look

A small crowd had gathered outside the

courtyard doors of 30 Avenue Montaigne; elegantly

dressed women in square-shouldered, knee-length

fur coats and elaborate hats waited impatiently

for the debut haute couture collection of the much

talked-about, but little-known Christian Dior.

Everything was completely new at the house

of Dior; the hammering had only just finished as

the first guests arrived. Fashionable decorator Victor

Grandpierre had designed the interior in classic

white and pearl grey. Tall windows were dressed

flamboyantly with grey satin drapes and festooned

blinds. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high

“God help the buyers who bought before they saw Dior! This changes everything.” carmel snow , Harper’s Bazaar

oppos i te This is the iconic New Look ensemble, a tailored suit with nipped-in waist and full skirt called the Bar suit.

r ight 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris, the building where the House of Dior is still based.

20

THE REVIVAL oF FRENCH couTure

More than sixty years on, Harper’s Bazaar’s

extraordinary claim that “almost every woman,

directly or indirectly, has worn a Balenciaga,”

continues to be relevant today as we see his pure

lines and perfect proportions displayed on the

runways of contemporary designers.

balenc iaga’s early l i f e

Cristóbal Balenciaga was born on 21 January

1895, in the medieval fishing village of Guetaria,

in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa, on Spain’s

rather stormy Cantabrian coast. His father was

the captain of a small pleasure boat used during

the summer vacations for ferrying King Alfonso XIII

Diana Vreeland once declared, “If a woman

came into a room wearing a Balenciaga dress no

other woman existed. He didn’t care a bit about

youth. He didn’t care about bones or anything we

admire today. He would often say women did not

have to be perfect or beautiful to wear his clothes.

When they wore his clothes they became beautiful.”

Carmel Snow noted in Harpers Bazaar that

“Balenciaga inspires us with all the masterly simplicity

of line which evolves so gradually, so surely, that

imperceptibly it penetrates the consciousness of

women of fashion, and designers, too. What

Balenciaga is thinking today will – though you don’t

realise it – influence your choice in a years, perhaps

three years’ time.”

on the right in this photograph by Richard Avedon, we see a three-quarter length Balenciaga coat with gathered elbow-length sleeves and flowing unpressed pleats..

on the left is a 1950s Balenciaga double-breasted suit, closely fitted in the front with a barrel back.

21

THE REVIVAL oF FRENCH couTure

126

T H E S W I N G I N G S I X T I E S

produced her first original designs. She named her

short shift dress the mini after her favourite car; it

became her trademark. She celebrated youth, fun

and a vague bohemianism. Mary Quant’s Bazaar

was still an upmarket experience, beyond the

pockets of most young Londoners; but the emphasis

Quant placed on the girl, rather than the woman,

was a radical development that would reshape

fashion for much of the coming decade.

Within seven years Mary Quant’s business was

worth a million pounds, which in the early sixties

was staggering. In 1963 she opened a second

branch of her shop in Knightsbridge, and launched

her own lower-priced label, Ginger Group, to bring

her designs to the mass market. Her distinctive daisy

logo appeared on many new products including

make-up, tights, shoes and underwear. In 1964 she

went on a tour of the US, shortly after the Beatles,

and secured a ten-year licensing agreement with J.C.

Penney, the first major US retailer to recognise the

importance of the mini.

Ernestine Carter, one of the most influential

fashion writers of the time, wrote of Quant in her

Sunday Times column: “It is given to a fortunate few

to be born at the right time, in the right place, with

the right talents. In recent fashion there are three:

Chanel, Dior and Mary Quant”.

Some of Quant’s most popular designs were

her experimental mixes such as sweater dresses

with plastic collars, drop-waist dresses with box

pleat skirts, knickerbockers and stretch stockings in

a rainbow of colours and patterns. other typical

designs were knee-length white plastic lace-up

boots, often called go-go boots, tight sweaters in

bold stripes and short shiny plastic raincoats, zipped

at the front. These clothes all became part of the

‘London Look’.

This is a colourful fabric designed in 1964 by Zandra Rhodes.

127

D I o R A N D T H E N E W L o o K

the rca and the r i se of the bout iques

Britain’s art schools were flourishing and by the late

fifties, many had set up pioneering fashion and

textile departments and were producing a host of

talented young graduates who, encouraged by

Mary Quant’s success, set up their own workrooms.

The Royal College of Art had the largest and most

sought-after fashion department, and was soon

recognised as the breeding ground for some of the

most exciting and innovative fashion talent in the

country.

In the fifties and sixties the RCA was at the

centre of the explosion of Pop Art culture, a vibrant,

invigorating movement that waved goodbye to

Britain’s post-war austerity. At its head, the eminent

Professor Janey Ironside, a former fashion journalist,

nurtured the talents of many iconic names in fashion:

Marion Foale & Sally Tuffin, ossie Clark, Bill Gibb

and Zandra Rhodes, to name a few.

In response to the demand for more affordable,

fast-moving and youthful fashions, boutiques were

springing up all over central London; many of the

best were started by Royal College of Art graduates.

James Wedge, Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin all

made names for themselves in the sixties. Wedge,

originally a highly successful milliner working for

couturier Ronald Paterson, was joint owner with

The garments above were designed by ossie Clark and are typical of his romantic style.

From the glamour and quiet brilliance of Christian Dior’s New Look to the inventiveness of Rei Kawakubo to the uncompromising creativity of Alexander

McQueen to the meticulous detail of the Mulleavy sisters (Rodarte), A History of Fashion: New Look to Now is a celebration of the life and times of the fashion geniuses whose rare and enduring creations have defined the past sixty years.This book traces the history of fashion design with its intriguing personalities and its international cast of players and puts them into the context of what was happening in the world outside fashion. Covering haute couture to the emergence of deluxe, boutique and ready-to-wear, A History of Fashion: New Look to Now illustrates the trends in fashion over the decades and shows the well worn truth that what goes

around comes around.It covers not only the designers, but also the other forces in fashion such as the magazine editors, boutique owners, photographers and models.

Lavishly illustrated with photographs, illustrations of the time and contemporary magazine campaigns as well as sketches, this book will provide industry professionals, students and enthusiasts alike with a clear and precise picture of the ever-changing world of fashion.

the authorJune Marsh is a freelance journalist, stylist and lecturer who has written widely on fashion. She is the former Fashion Editor of the Daily Mail (London) and has contributed to several books including Denim: From cowboy to catwalk and The Ivy Look.

contents Introduction: Dior and the New LookThe Revival of French CouturePost-war Paris and the Business of CoutureAll You Need is LoveYou are What You WearModern LegendsBack to the FutureA Fashion DemocracyClicking Away

spec if icat ions270 x 210 mm (8 ¼ x 10 ½ in)288 pages with 230 illustrationsHardback with jacketRecommended retail price:£ 29.95 | € 39.95 | US$ 49.9545,000 wordsISBN 978-1-908126-21-4September 2012

key features•Coversthekeydesignersfromthepost-warperiodofthe

New Look to the present•Includesnotonlythedesignersbutotherinfluentialfigures•Beautifullyillustratedwithphotographsaswellassketches

and media from the time

www.vivays-publishing.com

History of fasHion New Look to Now j u n e marsh