The Influence of Womens Wear on American Fashion and Design - Research Paper Example

The influence of women’s wear on American fashion and design Table of Contents Introduction- The influence of women’s wearto the American fashion and design industry is launched, with a focus on big names that have curved a niche in the industry. These are Claire McCardell, Donna Karan and other big names that have played a big role in making the industry the success it is today Page 3 Claire McCardell and her women’s wear- the role of Claire McCardell in influencing the American fashion and design industry is illustrated. Claire’s influence was especially felt during the early years of the 20th century, especially after she was appointed to the position of the head designer at the Townley Frocks. Page 3 Donna Karan and her influence- Donna Karan’s influence was especially manifested in the sportswear designs, which came to prominence in the American fashion and design industry during the latter years of the 20th century. Page 4 Other women’s wear influencers - These include Claire McCardell, Bonnie Cashen, Tina Lesser, Clare Potter, Tina Lesser as well as Emily Wilkins. These women and others are explored and the role they played in setting free the American fashion design from the strongholds of the Parisian design, with a new standards of designs, for example corsets and new girdle designs. Page 6 Conclusion- To conclude, the influence of women’s wear to the American fashion and design is recognized and the role of each of the aforementioned designers acknowledged. Page 7 Works Cited Page 9 The influence of women’s wear on American fashion and design Women’s wear has dominated the American fashion and design for a long time, and the influence they have is an important subject that designers should embrace and understand well. The American fashion industry is awash with big names from Clare McCardell to Donna Karan, among others, iconic fashion designers who have left a big mark to the industry in not just the American but also the International sphere. The following paper is an assessment of ways through which women’s wear has influenced American fashion and design. The paper will explore the following three influencing factors. Firstly, the works of Claire McCardell and their influence to the American fashion and design industry are explored. The influential work of Donna Karan is also examined. The other influences examined in detail are the influences of various women’s wear during the 1920s and the 1930s, a period when the works of big names at this time made an indelible mark to the American fashion industry as well. Claire McCardell The influence of Claire McCardell to the American fashion and design is immense. Together with other women, for example Elizabeth Hawkes, Vera Maxell and Bonnie Cashin, McCardell is recognized as one of the major icons of American fashion. Claire McCardell was a rising star during the 1930s, and Buxbaum writes of her influence during the early 1930s, especially after she was appointed to the position of the head designer at the Townley Frocks. Worth noting is that by the late 1930s, McCardell had become recognized for her roles in using menswear design as well as detailing, for mix-and-match separates, as well as her simple as well as direct design aesthetics. In 1934, for example, she designed wool jersey separates that could be easily combined in various ways to meet almost every sartorial situation during a short trip traveling light. McCardell is also known for designing the Monastic Dress, popular for its simple belted design, Harem pants together with gymnastic outfits, also known as playsuits, combined with her signature details. Buxbaum writes thus of her: “created garments without traditional, structural elements. A particularly popular one, later known as the ‘Monastic’ dress, took on form when simply belted at the waist. It was this, as well as other loosely fitted dress designs, that helped establish her as one of the initiators of the “American” look. Her garments were detailed with little brass hooks and other hardware closures, such as ‘spaghetti’ or ‘shoestring’ ties, double outline stitching, and big pockets.” (Bauxbaum p 111) The work of Claire McCardell is also acknowledged by pop culture icon Tim Gunn, famous for his co-hosting of the Emmy-nominated American reality show Project Runway. In his book, Tim Gunn writes of the contributions of women to American fashion, and focuses on where the majority of the present-day fashion items originated from. The distribution of Claire McCardiell, who represented sportswear is well illustrated. According to Tim Gunn, it was during the reign of Claire McCardell and her contribution to fashion and design that American creativity was born. Donna Karan Donna Karan is a fashion icon well known in the United States. The influence of Donna Karan to American fashion and design is well illustrated in books, magazines, interviews and very many press releases. Her clothes are in numerous stores all-over the United States and internationally as well. Karan is an iconic designer whose work and influence in America makes Gerda Bauxbaum to dedicate two pages to Dona Karan in his book Icons of fashion as he describes his career. Bauxbaum writes of how women wore the designs of Donna Karan during the 20th century and contributed to a massive cultural movement in America. The influence of Donna Karan to the American fashion is however well illustrated in the Vogue magazine. Born in 1948, Donna Karan first appeared in the Vogue magazine in 1974 when she was only a small girl. She has managed to curve a niche in the American fashion and design industry with labels such as the Donna Karan New York, DKNY, D by DKNY as well as the Anne Klein label. She named her signature line after New York, and is also famous for practically conceiving black as the quintessential urban color. The influence of Donna Karan was started when she lied about her age for the purposes of getting a job in retail on the Long Island. She even decided to drop out of school so as she could work together with Anne Klein, one of the pioneer designers on Seventh Avenue for especially American Sportwear. Although she was fired a few months later, she returned back to the company two years later, and when Klein died, Karan was named her successor, at a young age of just 26. The influence of Donna was therefore launched at Anne Klein, a line she co-designed with Louis Dell’Olio for almost a decade, and even launched Anne Kleinn II. It was Donna who was responsible for the popular “Seven easy Pieces”, a dressing system that the designer sought to famously describe as “as fast as food”. Danna won numerous awards, including the Coty’s American fashion critics award, which she won together with friend and co-designer Louis Dell’Olio. It was in 1983 when she married Stephan Weiss, a sculptor whom she had met during a blind date at the age of 18. It was at this time when her designs took over the cover of Vogue. In 1987, Grace Mirabella, a fashion magazine editor, presented Karan with her second CFDA award, an award that reflected the contribution Karan had made to the American fashion and design industry. According to the editor, the award signified the impact Donna had made to the total look of fashion. During the early 1990s, the designs of Donna graced the cover of Vogue. The designs and works of Donna were not just influential to the women fashion it is worth noting. By 1993, Donna’s women wear had made so much impact to the American fashion industry that she was awarded the CDFA’s award for Menswear designer of the year, becoming the first woman ever to win the award (Adams). Other women’s wear influencers The influence of women’s wear to the American industry cannot be complete without the iconic distribution of the 1920s and the 1930s. During this time, the following three factors together made a large impact to American fashion: the feminist movement; the end of the First World War and improved production methods. In World War 1 women were required to wear trousers in the factories. After the war women’s wear reflected a new carefree attitude, which went a long way towards influencing American fashion. The feminist movement also had a major influence on the American fashion at the time. For the first time, women began breaking with the traditions that had rocked the fashion and design industry for decades and started wearing less fitted clothing as well as bobbed hair. The growth of the garment industry was also a determinant factor to the women’s wear; this growth was associated with the ability to make mass productions of simpler styles of ladies’ clothing at prices that could be affordable. It was at this time that skirts became shorter while the dresses started featuring natural waistlines. In 1925, for example, the shift dress did not have any waistline at all. The trend to make garments out of other materials such as fabric and rayon was also an instrumental trend, as this shifted the focus from cotton, silk and wool. It was also at this time that pants, while they had been worn only in secluded places for example vacation resorts and ranches, they became popular among upper class and middle-class women. The growing fashion and design industry of the 1920s presented the women’s wear with various choices, including the carefree flapper look, the practical walking suit as well as the romantic flowing dress. Women’s wear was also very influential to the overall American fashion and design industry through the invent of designer sportswear, which is largelsy attributed to women designers and their women’s wear. According to Richard Martin, for example, the true birth of designer sportwear in America can only be credited to women designers in America and their works. These include Claire MCCardell, Bonnie Cashen, Tina Lesser, Clare Potter, Tina Lesser as well as Emily Wilkins. These women are credited for coming up with designs that set free the American fashion design from the strongholds of the Parisian design. With a new standard of dress, these designers came up with designs that were designed specifically to meet the needs of the modern American women’s lifestyle. The designers are also credited for rethinking fashion from its foundations and not just paring sanctions of traditional styles. Fashions made during this time took on a glamorous look when compared to the carefree looks that had been adopted during the 1920s. It was during this time that corsets were brought back to the American fashion and a new girdle was created. These were important features of the fashion industry that brought an elegance, a new sophistication as well as a new maturity to American fashion industry. Considering that the world was in the middle of an economic depression, the yearning for wealth took on a new importance. Joan Crawford demonstrated the “power suit”, an iconic women’s wear that took over the fashion industry. With her broad shoulders, Joan wore the power suit and became the first women to do so, ushering in an era of a design that would soon flood newspaper headlines for its popularity. In the Letty Lynton film by Joan, the white organza dress was copied, and it is also from this dress that the industry benefited largely after the marketing it had received from the movie (Baldaia). Conclusion This paper has examined the subject of the influence of women wear to the fashion industry of America. The works of Donna Karan, Claire McCardel and the works of iconic designers during the 1920s and the 1930s have been thoroughly explored. Using authoritative and relevant authors, it was found that women’s wear was iconic towards the American fashion and design industry. It was designers such as Donna Karan who ushered in the world of sportswear in America, a very popular dressing in the 20th as well as the present day American fashion and design. In New York, for example, these are the designs that are favored by many dwellers, and the fact that these designers are popular in New York, the hub of American fashion and design, this reveals the immense influence by women’s wear. Works Cited Adams, Esther, Donna Karan, The Vogue Magazine, Retrieved December 6, 2012 from http://www.vogue.com/collections/pre-fall-2013/donna-karan/review/ Baldaia, Suzanne, Modernity in Space age fashion: A semiotic and historical analysis of meaning transfer, University of Rhode Island, 1993. Buxbaum, Gerda  Icons Of Fashion: The 20th Century (Prestel’s Icons)Prestel, 2005. Gunn, Tim. Tim Gunns Fashion Bible: The Fascinating History of Everything in Your Closet. New York: Gallery Books, 2012. Print. Stevenson, N J. Fashion: A Visual History from Regency & Romance to Retro & Revolution : a Complete Illustrated Chronology of Fashion from the 1800s to the Present Day. New York: St. Martins Griffin, 2012. Print. Read More