FASHION DEVELOPMENT To understand the working of the fashion industry, one has to have knowledge of Fashion Fundamentals. First in the sequence is to know how the fashion business developed. Thus the history of fashion helps the designers to make decisions for the present day and future fashions. Ideas from the past are often reinterpreted for today’s fashion.
Fashion, as we know it, is relatively new. In ancient and medieval times, styles remained practically unchanged for a century at a time. During Renaissance, Western civilisation discovered different cultures, customs and costumes leading to acceleration in fashion change. With the availability of new fabrics and ideas, people yearned for more new things.
FRANCE — THE CENTRE OF FASHION France’s dominance over international fashion began in early th century. Until Industrial Revolution, people belonged to two main classes: wealthy and poor. Only the wealthy could afford fashionable clothes. By the turn of th century, King Louis XIV’s court members became the trendsetters of taste, making Paris the fashion capital of Europe.
Many of the French cities were supplying the court with silk fabrics, ribbons and laces. At this time intricate seaming of fashion required painstaking hand sewing. All the clothes were hand made and custom made i.e. made to fit the customer’s exact measurements.
France became the centre of fashion due to support from the royal court and the development of the silk industry there. Couture (koo-tour’) was the term used for the art of dress making. A male designer was a couturier and his female counterpart was a couturiere. The Industrial Revolution marked the beginning of technological advances in textile and apparel production.
Due to the developments more fabrics were produced in less time. During this time spinning jenny and power looms were invented. This gave rise to development of American textile industry. Rapidly increasing trade and industry in return created a middle class with money to spend on the luxuries of life, including better clothing.
The invention of sewing machine turned the handcraft into an industry. This democratised fashion and made it accessible for everyone. In ,