fashion

The  history of fashion design  refers to the development of the  fashion  industry which designs clothing and accessories. The modern industry, based around firms or  fashion houses  run by individual designers, started in the 19th century with  Charles Frederick Worth  who from 1858 was the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments that he created. Before the mid-19th century the division between  haute couture  and  ready-to-wear  did not really exist. All but the most basic major pieces of female clothing was  made-to-measure  by  dressmakers  and  seamstresses  dealing directly with the client, and fitting to her shape. Hats, gloves and similar accessories were mostly made ready to wear and sold in shops as now.  Tailors  worked with men in the same way. The design of these clothes became increasing based on printed designs, especially from Paris, which were circul...

As anyone who's been in the industry a few years can tell you that not all fashion jobs are created equal:  Some pay well;  some don't; some are 9-to-5; some will keep you bound to a desk past midnight; some bear a striking resemblance to  The Devil Wears Prada , while others are actually pretty friendly. What's key, though, is finding the right environment—and thanks to the internet, we know from employees themselves which are the top fashion companies to work for. Earlier this year,  Business of Fashion  published an extensive report detailing 16 of the leading employers in the industry, taking a global approach and surveying more than 2600 professionals from 190 companies. Elsewhere,  Glassdoor  has for years culled its user-generated data annually to come up with its "employees' choice" list of the  best companies to work for  and the CEOs with the top approval ratings across industries, with a few fashion corporations inevitably makin...

Spring Summer Fashion 2018: Dilone wears the new collections for Farfetch "If I had the chance to travel in time, I would never go in the past. I love colors and I could not express myself in any other era with the same freedom as today ". Thus Dilone describes herself. This is why Farfetch recruited her to interpret the 'optimistic spirit' of the Spring / Summer Fashion 2018.

H&M staged its annual see-now-buy-now Spring show in Paris tonight amid the city’s Fall presentations. With Japan as the starting point of the collection, one of the grand halls of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs was converted into a giant  ryokan , complete with mega paper lanterns, tatami mats, and geta socks for hundreds. A dinner of sushi, sashimi, miso soup, and little bites was served, and sake flowed, although, not quite fast enough. The Dancing Strawhatz, a performance trio from Japan who appear completely masked, did a short dance, and paper cherry blossoms fell from the ceiling at the finale. After all that, would you believe that the clothes barely read as Japanese at all? Well, they didn’t, and that’s probably not a bad thing. Last month, H&M issued a public apology after its online advertisement featuring a black boy modeling a sweatshirt reading “coolest monkey in the jungle” prompted outrage for its blatant racism. A literal reading of traditional Japanese c...

Last fall, Zara helped a girl out by launching a  new collection page  titled ' Best Sellers ,' and we're stoked it's made a return! The easy one-page stop for the retailer's best of-the-moment items became our shopping savior, one that informed us just what trends Zara-philes were investing in. Starring pieces from its recently-released spring collection, Zara's newest round of best sellers is an eclectic mix of pastel trousers and statement mules (i.e. two of our favorite spring trends).      Monkey see, monkey do. That's kind of how we feel about the styling every time  Zara's new arrivals  come out. Not only are the pieces themselves fresh and exciting, but it's how the retailer puts them all together that really gets us shopping. And if Zara says mixing gingham and plaid is cool, well, sign us up. It's felt like a long, long sale season (in fact,  Zara's sale is still going strong ), so we were pretty excited to see a fre...

                        In 1775, the year after Louis XVI came to the French throne alongside his wife Marie-Antoinette, the Monnaie de Paris on the left bank of the Seine was completed. This exquisite neoclassical building’s sole purpose was to make money. It contained the foundries within which the realm’s coins were minted. Just 18 years later, both Louis and his wife (nicknamed Madame Déficit for her crippling extravagance) fell under revolution’s guillotine, marking the end of over a millennium’s worth of continuous royal rule in France and the dawn of  liberté ,  egalité , and  fraternité . Empires rise and empires fall—but money is money. This evening, Berluti, the only all-male label in the stable of France’s current golden dynasty of LVMH-owned fashion brands, made its own small mark on the long history of the Monnaie by showing Haider Ackermann’s second collection for the brand there. Not unlike ...

       adidas Originals Teases New Vibrant Spring/Summer 2018 adicolor Series Collection  ADIDAS  helps greet the new year by unveiling its new Spring/Summer 2018   adicolor   series collection, along with an accompanying lookbook — playfully placing models in various lifestyle scenarios. The sportswear-tinged lineup sees an assemblage of bold colors, namely, red, green, yellow, blue and black make their way onto a series of activewear staples. The apparel lineup is comprised of branded hoodies, long-sleeve crewneck pullovers, track jackets, track pants and lightweight outerwear, all of which get stylized alongside classic sneaker silhouettes. Check out the images above and let us know what you think of the new Three Stripes offering. Stay tuned for full release details. In keeping with the brand,  adidas Originals NMD releases a functional Spring/Summer 2018 apparel collection .     For the upcoming Spring/Summer...

      It's time for summer jeans. GAP reveals its latest spring-summer collection's preview. Here you will find beautiful and warm summer colors in pastel hues with bright pink and yellow. Models appear in comfy denimwear and casual basic wear. What I really like in these looks, is the balance of soft and light colors.

             Today, I will be showing you some of my favorite finds from the  Old Navy spring  line! The temperatures are slightly rising over here and that has me so excited for warmer weather! I teamed up with Old Navy today and was able to choose some of my favorite picks from their spring line that they have out now! There are so many pieces that can easily transition your wardrobe for those spring temps! 

       In dark political times such as these, the idea of a great escape is undeniably tempting. For designer Ralph Lauren, that happy place is currently Jamaica, with its sandy white beaches and mystical blue mountains. Lauren set the mood for his latest see-now-buy-now collection with a mise-en-scène that appeared to be transported straight from his luxurious Caribbean retreat. The reflection of rippling blue waters could be seen in the white blinds and cabana furniture at the end of the runway. His models were clearly in full vacation mode, too, bounding out barefoot and dressed in sun-bleached batik and woodblock-print summer dresses with woven tourist baskets and canvas totes swinging at their side. The island vibe made way for a more traditional yacht club aesthetic and classic nautical tropes that have been associated with a certain kind of American prepster for decades, including Bermuda shorts and double-breasted navy blazers replete with gold buttons. ...

NikeLab Releases New Apparel for Spring-Summer 2018 Season Made up of pieces for men and women. NikeLab    is already prepped for the warm spring weather ahead of us. Its latest drop is comprised of training, lifestyle, and performance pieces for men and women. The range includes tan coaches jacket and a fiberfill crew for men with a bodysuit, mixed fabric bomber and ghost windrunner jacket made ready for women. The collection also offers a unisex piece in its heritage tracksuit.

“As I watch the sun go down, watching the world fade away,” The Communards sang on the soundtrack to Christopher Bailey’s farewell show at Burberry, “all the memories of you come rushing back to me.” Bailey was 16 when that song was released in 1987. You could picture his teenaged self in the boys – and girls – who walked him out of the House of Burberry on Saturday evening, into the sunset. They were clad in clothes that didn’t just reference the designer’s 17 years at the house, but most of his own life and Burberry’s history, too. Retro, you might say. “It’s kind of a yesterday-today-and-tomorrow,” Bailey said before the show, surrounded by the wealth of high-spirited silhouettes and motifs that made up this collection. But it wasn’t a greatest hits parade. “The biggest challenge is always making sure that we are not resting on our laurels and that we remain courageous enough and curious enough to keep pushing it,” he pointed out. “Challenging ourselves is always a challenge.” L...

The time has come to put away bourgeois, girly playthings and get militant. Miuccia Prada’s Spring collection was, she said, “interested in someone who can be active and present today.” In Prada’s mind, there is no equivocation about exactly what that means: “Just wanting to change the world. Especially for women, because there’s so much against us, still.” You knew what she was talking about—countermanding the forces that threaten to roll back women’s rights. Since the election of Donald Trump, the need has become urgent. Can fashion be an ally in that struggle, though? “I am suggesting militant women in a very practical way,” Prada said. “Through clothes, which is what I do.” It was an empowering show, set among the work of women cartoonists and manga artists whose drawings dominated the company’s huge headquarters. “They are mainly contemporary artists, but also some from the ’30s to the ’60s,” said Prada. “I found it inspiring that with a pencil in your hand, you can tell your...

Paris Fashion Week ended with a history lesson. Nicolas Ghesquière staged his Louis Vuitton collection in the Louvre’s Pavillon de l’Horloge, which opened just last year, recently enough that many of the locals had never seen it. The show was held on the Pavillon’s lower floor, in what was once a moat protecting a medieval fortress. Stone walls constructed somewhere in the vicinity of 800 years ago surrounded us on all sides, and the Great Sphinx of Tanis, which dates back to 2600 BC, watched from a perch at the head of the runway. The Louvre’s evolution from fortress to royal palace to museum took centuries, but time is flattened inside. That was the motivating concept behind Ghesquière’s new collection, which combined the frock coats of its royal palace phase with elevated versions of the athletic clothes and sneakers that tourists pad around it in today. Speaking afterward, Ghesquière said, “I thought anachronism was interesting. How today can we incorporate pi...

Maria Grazia Chiuri has her mind set on infusing her feminist sensibilities into the feminine house of Christian Dior. On one hand, her mission is lofty; on the other hand, it’s pragmatic and down-to-earth. Yes, women can be both! But let’s be practical: Her distinctly aged-down version of Dior ready-to-wear is not exactly “democratic”—for this is a French luxury house—but it’s ultimately intended to be accessible to millennials. There are no more flirty  jolies madames  in pastel cocktail suits and teetering stilettos parading down this runway, not even the lingering whiff of their scent. Instead, Chiuri’s girls walked in low, block-heeled Mary Janes or black mesh knee-boots which—who knows?—might have been inspired by the wrestling ring. They wore everything from ’70s patchwork jeans to leather jumpsuits, from black pantsuits to sparkly glitter mini shifts and sheer dresses (really, a lot of them) with their underwear clearly visible. But it was the shoes that really ma...

Raf Simons’s Calvin Klein experiment is an American experiment. Last season he identified classic tropes—diner uniforms; cowboy boots; denim, of course. For Spring, he added layers. The new motifs included Andy Warhol prints of Dennis Hopper circa   Easy Rider   and a 1971 Sandra Brant (is there an art movement more American than Pop?), cheerleaders, and horror movies. His Hitchcock blondes wore rubber, and gauzy nightgowns conjured Sissy Spacek in   Carrie . Above the runway, Sterling Ruby installed gleaming metal buckets not unlike the one in that movie’s pivotal prom scene. Simons and his creative director and fellow Belgian, Pieter Mulier, landed stateside a year ago. Whatever or whoever could be making them think so sinisterly? Simons said he’s attracted to film and TV ( Game of Thrones  is a current obsession), the reason being that he sees in the medium’s auteurs a sense of freedom that our industry currently lacks. “Fashion,” he said, “has embraced too...

Gucci is the very definition of Italian luxury.   THIS SEASON AT GUCCI Under the steadfast leadership of the infinitely talented Alessandro Michele, Gucci continues to flourish with revived vivacity for Spring/Summer ‘18. Cue explosions of vibrant prints, metallic embellishments galore, sleek Elton-John-inspired tailoring and a refreshingly contemporary knitwear edit. Be sure to peruse the accessories offering for the hottest It-bags of the moment. Note the rejuvenated "GG"-printed pieces for a reinterpretation of a much-loved classic design, and don’t miss the selection of belt bags – clearly still the silhouette to rock this season. Whether you’re draping yourself in a fluid satin pyjama suit or stealing the show at the theatre in an appliquéd overcoat, being a Gucci girl has never been more fun.

A WALK in the park isn’t normally how you’d describe an haute couture collection. At the  Chanel   ateliers, petites mains have been toiling away for weeks at the 68 handcrafted looks that made up Karl Lagerfeld’s spring/summer 2018 offering this morning in Paris. 69, if you count his adorable godson Hudson Kroenig’s princeling blouse and tiny white jeans. (He served as flower boy to the bride.) Yet the newly-bearded designer had foregone nearly all the theatrics and elaborate stage constructions that normally fill the Grand Palais for his Chanel shows. Instead, he erected a simple palatial French garden setting where rose-studded pergolas circled an 18th century fountain. You could find that setting in any garden between Versailles and the Tuileries, so costly as the set may have been you could virtually consider it banal. Lagerfeld, of course, does not deal in banalities. And while he refuses to analyse the intentions behind his collections, we must assume there’s...

Nobody does opulent romance better than Dolce & Gabbana, the most iconic designer duo in the world. THIS SEASON AT DOLCE & GABBANA Dolce & Gabbana's signature glamour graced the runway yet again for SS18, showcasing body-hugging, sheer dresses and oversized golden accessories. As is to be expected from the iconic Italian duo, plenty of playful prints, elegant lace and floral details were not left out. As always, everything was tailored to perfection and fervently feminine – we can't wait to add another pair of statement earrings to our repertoire, or maybe we'll opt for sparkling boots – or both! THE DOLCE & GABBANA STORY Dolce & Gabbana was established in Milan in 1985 by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. Leopard print, lace and a love for their native Sicily, alongside figure-hugging silhouettes and a fervently feminine undertone to each collection are all trademarks of what is now easily one of the world’s most beloved fashion ho...