A Guide to Fashion's Most Influential Designers // Part 3
I promise, this series of posts are nearly over, I hope you've enjoyed them. To catch up on reading about fashions most influential designers who shaped today's industry you can read Part 1 and Part 2 here.
Rei Kawakulubo - She founded Comme de Garcons in 1973 and began using the label unofficially. Kawakulubo created clothes influenced by little more than cloth, structure, and thread, aiming to create collections that were striking, and unconstrained in the way they move. Known best for her 'deconstructed sensibility' in the fashion industry. Her brand Comme de Garcons does well with 'guerilla' stores in countries such as Singapore.
Jeanne Lanvin - Her fame roots back to when she was creating intricate pleated dresses for her daughter, and Paris's wealthiest women wanted copies for their own daughters. Her signature piece being the flapper dress- a full skirt, tight bodice and intricate embroidering, a definitive look of the 1920's. Lanvin is now the oldest continued couture house, not only did she create fashion, but interior pieces and perfumes too. Recently, Lanvin parted from creative director Alber Elbaz, who will continue the legacy now? (a topic soon to be discussed on my blog.)
Karl Lagerfield - His fashion career really started when he came second in a competition to Yves Saint Laurent in a dress design competition at 17. He then started to freelance for fashion houses from Fendi to Valentino to Chloe to Krizia. In 1983 he took over Chanel, resulting in the dazzling couture we see in today's collections."Energy should always be new. There is no old energy. You cannot stock energy, you can for electricity but not for creativity" which explains why he frequently produces fresh collections and continues to stay current in the fashion world.
Thierry Hermes - The accessories brand, didn't start with producing bags but horse riding saddles sold to elite riders, and in the 1920's Thierry's grandson created the first leather handbags which included the iconic Kelly and Birkin bags, still sewn by hand today. The family run business then moved onto scarves woven from silk from their private farm in Brazil and scents by their resident perfumer. There is a strong belief in this brand that the products the costumer leaves the store with aren't just an object "the artisans put their heart and soul in the bags" The brand has now moved onto clothes with Martin Margiela overseeing women's wear in 2003 and Jean Paul Gaultier debuted his first collection for the brand in 2004.
Alexander McQueen - A favourite designer of mine, it's fair to say McQueen shocked the fashion world, he graduated Central Saint Martins with the collection 'Jack the ripper stalking his victims' -grim, but he wanted the shock and slight disgust to keep the public curious and wanting more. McQeen created deeply emotive collections inspired by nature and history. However a more mellow side of McQueen was shown when he became head of Givenchy in 2001. For more on McQueen, I wrote a post here, here and here.
Mary Quant - The British designer credited to the creation of the mini skirt and hot pants opened her first store - Bazaar in 1955, in the same period of the women's liberation, her provocative and eccentric stock became popular, allowing her to open a second shop. She then started designing pieces that appealed to youth of the time, knee high boots, clingy knits and boxy dresses she also popularised the micro-mini, and the patterned tights. Eventually she expanded to make up and home ware.
I promise, this series of posts are nearly over, I hope you've enjoyed them. To catch up on reading about fashions most influential des...