New comfort: How women rethink clothes for women
How many 20th century female designers can you list on the go? Anyone who did not immerse himself in the history of the question will surely remember ten names on the strength of their names. In any case, the ratio of famous female designers with their male colleagues will not be in favor of the former. Historically (and for obvious reasons) it turned out that since the origins of couture, laid down by Charles Frederick Worth, men have dominated fashion. Except, perhaps, in the 1930s: Chanel, Madeleine Vionnet and Elsa Schiaparelli were recognized as one of the main Parisian couturiers, and Germaine Emily Krebs, who later took the pseudonym Madame Gre, worked in her own studio under the name Alix Gre.
It is no secret that high posts in most areas are still being given priority to men, and among key designers of modern fashion, there are also more of them. But it seems that the trend has begun to change in the opposite direction, and we have witnessed these changes not so long ago. Approximately since the British girls began to come to the Parisian fashion. The first was Stella McCartney and her assistant, and then the successor to Phoebe Faylo, who revived Chloé. Then Filelo moved to Céline and made the little-known brand one of the most desirable; Hannah MacGibbon later joined them. All of them, of course, graduated from Central Saint Martins and had an important overall quality - they knew how to make simple and understandable clothes in which they just wanted to live. Today they were also joined by Nadezh Vane-Tsybulsky, a year ago, who had transferred to Hermès from the design stronghold of the Olsen sisters THE ROW.
At one time, Chanel spoke unflatteringly about the work of Christian Dior, saying that he wants to chain poor women back into a corset that does not look modern and does not suit their active social life in the postwar period. This reproach is still relevant to many male designers who are passionate about constructing a complex concept: in a good way, to fully understand a female audience and create appropriate clothes without a shadow of a male gaze, so far only a female designer is capable.
Looking back at the story, you can find many examples confirming this view: you can remember Diana von Fürstenberg with her functional dress, the early Donna Karan and her "Seven Easy Pieces", Miuccia Prada with her new concept of ugly beauty and Gil Zander, who showed how strong an emotional message can be just pants or a white shirt. But it was the young British women who, from the end of the 90s, began in their own way to redo old fashion houses, set new standards. A sophisticated but practical fashion came out of their hands, responding to the desire of modern girls to look beautiful in comfortable clothes without unnecessary details.
This aesthetics of “uneasy simplicity”, which turned out to be in demand and consonant with the spirit of the times, occupied a spacious but almost unfilled niche between the high avant-garde fashion and the supposedly mundane “street”. And the leaders in it are girls-designers, whose approach to creating clothes is consonant with the vision of Stella, Phoebe, Hannah and others. This, for example, Rosie Assulin. Her works sometimes feel overly elegant (apparently, the work of Oscar de la Renta and Albert Elbaz in Lanvin affects), but it is immediately balanced by the correct proportions: wide loose pants, too long sleeves, a tending down silhouette. The ruffles are Rosie's weakness, which she may sometimes be too keen on, depriving things of accentuated brevity and purity of lines. But in general, this is exactly the example when the designer’s thought does not interrupt the practicality of the thing, allowing it to remain functional and comfortable.
Approximately the contemporary of Stella McCartney and Phoebe Failo, Rosetta Getty decided to start a serious design just a year and a half ago. Getty, in the past quite a successful model, for some time produced children's clothing. As usual, the reason for creating the Rosetta Getty brand was the desire to do things “for yourself”, that is, suitable for the active rhythm of life of a modern woman, comfortable and cool-looking - nothing surprising. However, the result was worthy of praise: the familiar and understandable silhouettes, coupled with excellent styling - all together looks very much in the spirit of the times. In the last spring-summer collection of design ideas more, which is good news, it means that the development of the brand is moving incrementally.
Among the sources of inspiration, Ryan Roach is Kelvin Klein's knitwear of the 90s and Donna Karan of the late 80s, and the girl calls Ralph Lauren as an example to follow. Ryan Roach works mainly with cashmere, relying on the pastel palette of powdery shades of pink, solid and sandy, a year ago she became the finalist of the CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund competition with her practically first full-fledged collection. She is working with a small cashmere factory in Nepal, which is run by a local women's commune. Visually, Ryan Roche is very similar to THE ROW - the same brevity, basic colors and volume play. And also the immediate desire to buy literally everything as soon as you look at the lookbook.
Trademark is based on the idea of uniform and universal wardrobe. This is acknowledged by the creators themselves, the sisters Puki and Louise Birch, the stepdaughter who made the billionth state on the Tori Birch eponymous accessory brand. Perfectly tailored trousers of the correct 7/8 length. Denim jacket square shape, slightly oversize. Coat with shoulder line extended just enough to not disfigure the silhouette. Frankly, the collections of the Birch sisters are not always even - some basic things look boring, and sometimes, on the contrary, suffer from unnecessary decorations. But they do not claim to be super-progressive designers, and, given that the girls have only been in the business for two years, there is still time to accelerate.
Another designer from the new wave is Barbara Casazola, originally from Brazil, who studied in Central Saint Martins London and Instituto Maragoni in Milan, and now works in London and shows up at the local fashion week. She does very feminine things, discreet and sensual at the same time. The tendency to clean lines and calibrated silhouettes makes her related to Phoebe Faylo, while Barbara Cazazola has a very strong own aesthetic vision, in which she experiments, without rolling into self-repetition.
All these girls work approximately in the same direction and are approximately similar to each other visually. But what matters more is not so much as the approach to the design of clothes that they share. What makes them related is the desire to make clothes with an eye on themselves - what they would like to see in their own wardrobe. The ability to create beautiful things that will not live a separate life is a great talent. In an industry where everyone wants to get a show with fireworks, it’s sometimes such an honest design that is lacking - even if without deep conceptual thought and complex structures, but suitable for life and creating a sense of security. In general, this is one of the key trends in the development of modern fashion, going in parallel with the search for new forms and deconstruction of old ones. Female post-feminist designers who have taken on the Failo and McCartney case are promoting the important idea of “dressing for yourself, not for men.” And urge us to follow this example.
Photos: Céline, Rosie Assoulin, Ryan Roche, Trademark
