A history of fashion: from function to punk action

The design of the clothes we wear has been influenced by trends, restrictions of law or economics, and by the types of materials they’re made from them. This section on fashion design will focus on fashion for women and trace the history of the clothes women wear.

In their books, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen note the importance of fashion and of the female seamstress and her role in creating clothes that the upper class was judged upon and that the working classes judged upon their ability to last.

In 1900 the fashion was for women to wear long

 skirts, corsets and elaborate amounts of fabric if they could afford it. During the ‘20s and ‘30s, hemlines began to rise and a set of couture fashion houses emerged which designed clothes that reflected the growing desire for clothes that helped people to enjoy themselves. Coco Chanel and Jeanne Lanvin from France produced chic clothes and popularized certain looks and styles. Perhaps they were the reason we now refer to fashion design rather than clothes design?

Rationing during World War Two and economic depressions had a radical effect on fashion during the 20th century. Many fashion houses closed during the war as most women could not afford to buy clothes that weren’t necessities and many materials were unavailable. People began to customise and make their own clothes from whatever materials were available.

“Make do and mend” became many household’s motto. Flour sacks were unpicked and sewn into dresses for girls during the Great Depression in America and in the UK during WWII evening dresses were made out of silk from airmen’s parachutes, jumpers were unpicked and knitted again and slippers made out of fabric scraps to prolong the life of your shoes.

Read an article on Make do and mend: design for thrifty times

When denim material was used by Levi Straus in the 19th century to make strong and durable clothes for gold miners he began a phenomenon. Designers and makers have gone on to create denim jeans for cowboys, movie stars and fashion icons and the material is now the default choice for many people wanting to be fashionable but also a little edgy.

Controversial fashion

Clothes say a lot about a person, but how you wear those clothes can say even more. Rolling up your skirt at school, or wearing a tie back to front, can be a form of expression as much as donning an Armani suit. In these ways, perhaps we’ve all got a bit of fashion designer in us?

Clothes can portray you in a sweet and innocent or dark and dirty light. One fashion that often gets referenced for its rebellious connotations is Punk.

Vivienne Westwood is often seen as the doyenne of punk for her work styling the New York Dolls and former husband Malcolm McLaren’s band the Sex Pistols in the seventies. Punk was all about anti establishment so leather, zips, chains and slogan T-shirts were common themes in her designs.

Westwood’s fashion empire was born out of her first store Let IT Rock, which dealt in fifties inspired clothes and memorabilia at a time when Elvis was making his comeback. It has since taken on many different names and refurbishments, but can still be seen on the Kings Road as the World’s End.

History of Vivienne Westwood

• 1970 – Opens Let It Rock with husband Malcolm McLaren at 430 Kings Road, Chelsea
• 1972 – Let It Rock is refurbished and renamed Too Fast to Live selling leather clothing with zips and chains and T-shirts bearing slogans and pornographic images alongside zoot suits.
• 1974 – Shop renamed Sex and sells rubber S&M nipped clothes and her ubiquitous T-shirts.
• 1976 – Sex Pistols play their first gig wearing clothes from 430 Kings Road, now renamed Seditionaries.
• 1981 – Westwood presents her Pirate collection at Olympia, which references historical dress for the first time. The shop is renamed the World’s End .
• 1982 – Westwood shows in Paris for the first time
• 1983 – Her collaboration with McLaren ends
• 1992 – She is made an honorary senior fellor of the Royal College of Art and awarded an OBE
• 1993 – Designs her own tartan for her Anglomania collection
• 1998 – Launches Boudoir perfume
• 1999 - Opens a US flagship store in New York’s SoHo
• 2006 – Westwood is made a Dame.

Helen Storey, fashion designer turned professor of fashion science, describes the clothes she now designs as a “Trojan horse” for other things she wants to say. For her, fashion design has been a way to explore meaning and personality and to communicate ideals. “When I was asked to write a book about the journey from fashion to the end of fashion, it’s called  Fighting fashion,  I felt that fashion was for the years before a woman knew who she was. That there’s something about the exploring. And I looked to all the older women who I admired and they had an absolute certain style. And I suppose I’m more attracted to the certainty of that than I am to the vulnerability of finding out who you are.”

“I was interested in surface in those years when I was trying to create my own surface and then once I had got that out of my system I became far more interested in the process of why we are what we are and why we do what we do. And that’s very rarely dealt with wholely in the aesthetic.”

Her Wonderland project, a collaboration with scientist Tony Ryan, uses dresses that dissolve in water to suggest how real solutions can be created to enable a more sustainable world.

“Wonderland brings together the worlds of art and science,” says Storey. By working together, Ryan and Storey have been able to use their different backgrounds to spark new ideas on the application of science and discover practical solutions to current ethical issues. The disappearing dresses are made from dissolving textiles designed by Trish Belford at Interface, at the University of Ulster. The material dissolves in water, creating vibrant underwater fireworks. In exhibitions, the dresses are hung from scaffolds and gradually lowered into giant goldfish bowls of water, and this display provokes watchers to question the environmental sustainability of our current fashion industry and what happens to used clothing.

High Street fashion

It is fair to say that Arkadia Group dominates the High Street. With seven of the UK High Street’s most famous names - Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Evans among them - under its banner, most 16-35 year-olds will have at least one item of clothing in their closet from one of these retailers. Taveta Investments owns the group, which in turn is owned by retail impresario Sir Philip Green. 

Topshop in particular has won acclaim internationally for being on the cutting edge of fashion. It has brought a taste of high design onto the high street by collaborating with famous designers, including Christopher Kane, Richoll Nichol and Jonathan Saunders. But it has been the shop’s ongoing collaboration with Kate Moss over eleven lines that has been the biggest hit.

The UK high street has proved particularly adept at offering the latest fashions, shortly after they appear on the catwalk, at affordable prices. Primark has been one of the latest contenders to Topshop’s crown as king of the high street. The retailer originated from Dublin, where in 1969 the first store opened under the Penney’s name.

Primark has had to face some hard questions about its work practices over the years as consumers question how ethical mass fashion can be. According to a company spokesman, Primark shares 97% of its supplier factories with other high street and international brands. The company audits its suppliers and has recruited ethical trade specialists, trained its buyers in ethical sourcing and has engaged with NGOs to help monitor the supplier side. The retailer is also working with other retailers on living wage rates.

But, in light of the rise in internet shopping, is there still a place for the High Street? Primark certainly thinks so. “We think the high street will continue to have an extremely important role,” said a spokesman. “Customers like to see and feel the products, and we have no current plans to develop online services.”

Functional fashion

Fashion can be as much about functionality as it is about aesthetics, uniforms being the prime example. Style often goes out the window in these instances and polyester, blockish shapes and garish colours prevail. However, one fast food outlet took a stand against unflattering outfits when it enlisted British fashion designer Bruce Oldfield to design its new range of uniforms for its staff.

McDonalds

In April 2008 McDonalds launched its new staff uniform as part of the company’s overhaul of its restaurants. By summer 2008 it had been rolled out to its 1,200 UK restaurants.  Bruce Oldfield was given the task of creating a uniform that would fit employees of different sizes and shapes and be practical, wearable and durable. Original trials of the uniform resulted in positive feedback from staff and once the tweaked version was rolled out, half reported back that customers reacted to them in a more positive way since they started wearing it.

“Bruce Oldfield was impressed by the evidence he had seen about us as an employer and so the partnership was a natural fit. He was also impressed by the work of the Ronald McDonald House (RMHC) which provides home away from home accommodation for the parents of seriously ill children in hospital.” McDonalds spokeswoman
Link to workwear fabrics section of the Textiles article.

Sophia Kokosalaki

It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it that counts. This should be the philosophy attributed to Greek designer Sophia Kokosalaki’s intricate designs. Drawing from her Hellenic roots, Kokosalaki is best known for her use of drapery in her work, reminiscent of the traditional garment worn by women in ancient Greece, the peplos.

These romantic details are often juxtaposed next to the less romantic leather.  She says: “I like to design functional apparel that also allows you to look interesting.”

In 1998 Kokosalaki  graduated with an MA in women’s wear from London’s prestigious Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and design. She debuted her first collection at London Fashion Week the following year before going on to spending two years as a guest designer at Italian label Ruffo Research. It was here that she developed her passion for working with leather.

It was in 2007 that Staff international acquired a controlling stake in the Kokosalaki brand.  Her clothes can be seen on celebrities from Kirsten Dundst through to Helen Mirren.

Sophia Kokosalaki  collection Autumn/Winter 2010