Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Little Black Dress: A review of a Classic

THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS.
Trends come and go, but for 90 years the little black dress has remained a powerful Fashion Icon, a constant on the catwalk, red carpet and in many womens' wardrobes. Wallis Simpson, The Dutches of Windsor famously said in its praise, "when the little black dress is right, there is nothing else to wear in its place." The little black dress is the chamelon of the fashion world.

Be it the safe choice, the rebellious statement, sexy or demure, the little black dress is both chic and armour within the fashion world and has never skipped a beat. Vogue stated in 1939 the simple little black dress is that made of all work, transforming itself for any occasion. The appeal of Little black dress is in equal measures its versatility and timeless glamour linked to women such as Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Hurley.

HISTORY OF LITTLE BLACK DRESS
In 1926 Coco Chanel showcased a simple Black Jersey dress in American vogue, which she described as the new uniform of modern women. Vogue nicknamed the dress the Chanel Ford. From this point on the concept of the little black dress- versatile, sophisticated and progressive was planted firmly in the public immagination. The popularity of the little black dress remained more or less constant throughout the 20th century. The 1950 and 1960 were its heyday, owing in part to the postwar boom in cocktail parties. The 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's transformed the LBD into a style icon, so that by 1965 vogue awarded it the accolade of contemporary classic- authentic and ageless.
Today...It is still strong as it is placed in sought after and religously followed aspects of the fashion world such as Style God Tim Gunn's list of things a woman must have in her closet.

THE CHALLENGE
For contemporary designers...the constant objective was and is to update the black dress, season after season while allowing it to have the classic charm that made it a staple in the first place. In the 20th century, the black dress can be as progressive and revolutionary as it was in its Chanel beginnings.The Fashion and Textile Museum in UK invited over 20 of Britains leading designers to show their ideas of the perfect black dress. Constrained by color, designers experimented with texture, form, drape and silhouette while revamping the classic. As Catherine Walker says, the little black dress is the perfect canvas for pure line and form. The little black dress has the power to make all women feel special, sexy and sleek within its fabric. Further, the little black dress is an incredible and indespensable standard for many women within and during personal events such as moments of seduction, revenge, and unforgettable occasions are for many women a representation of black dress.

Improvements in manufacturing standards for ready to wear clothes and their introduction of new synthetic fibers, has both broadened the availability and affordability of the little black dress; allowing it to represent glamour accessible to women regardless of age, class or income. A constant essential piece in every womens wardrobe, the importance of the black dress is as universal, undeniable and strong as the woman who created it so long ago.--------------------

Tapti Tapan, Designer and Contributor

Saturday, December 20, 2008

A Fashion Designer's Life....

Designer, artist, or a creative soul, whatever you might want to call, we never sleep.We are always looking for ways, techniques, and inspirations to make our product better, more creative and more pleasing to the eye.
That’s what makes our profession different from any other. We are always on a run for ideas; we never know what will inspire us, whether it’s a bird, a tree, piece of furniture, texture on the streets or fabric, music or an emotion. It’s absolutely beyond our immediate understanding. The creative juices are always flowing, in our dreams, in our thoughts and in our hearts. We are constantly thinking how to make a product better, even when we are watching what other people are wearing. We are always thinking how I would have made it better or worn it different etc.
The day of a designer starts with perhaps meditating in the morning for calming our soul for a fresh start, for a new day or for some having a cup of coffee, running in the shower to get ready for a corporate job that doesn’t wait for us but we want to run to or after. After bathing, we perhaps look at our closest to decide whether we want to look creative today or perhaps professional, or should we go with the Chanel look or the Dior, or Cavalli for that matter. After all that’s decided then comes the accessories, the hair, makeup and the jacket depending on the mad and unpredictable weather of New York.On the train either reading WWD (Women’s wear daily, the bible of the Fashion Industry) or figuring out what’s the first thing we need to do once we reach the office or simply sleeping and for some who are always running late and wearing makeup on the train, while the people around are watching and wandering why the makeup cant be worn at home or why is it even important to wear makeup.The day at work, stress, stress, and some more stress.
Deadlines, communicating with over seas factories for issues and concerns, calling fabric, trim vendors, asking them when are we getting the buttons, when is the fabric reaching the office, negotiating prices, searching magazines for inspirations, getting the projects done for presentations for the buyers, getting projects done for meetings, color meetings, meetings with vendors, trend meetings, sales meetings.
Then we say to ourselves, if we have so many meetings how can we meet deadlines, how will we have time to create something which is so beautiful and divine and at the same time sellable. Alas lunch time, lunch is usually on our desk in front of our computer, while we are having lunch we are also emailing or figuring out what next, should we tackle an easier project first or something less complicated or should be just sketch and create away to glory and finally we look at our wrist to see what time it is, whether it is end of the day yet or not or can we go home early today or perhaps not.A designer not all creates but sees the process and makes sure everything a garment needs is there. From a sketch we bring it to reality, a reality which we see people wearing or perhaps even on the runway.. It’s just like a baby.

Tapti Tapan
Designer

Monday, December 8, 2008

A Preview of the New Season!

Spring/Summer 2009.....

While we sit snuggled up in coats, scarves and hats, the designers of the world of course are already thinking ahead to the next season which requires their fashion stamp: Spring and summer of 2009.
Although the well known designers of our world of course took the ground running, this was deffinitly a season for the newbie designers as well. While Project Runway gives one designer a break, we saw the runway give many others a chance to shine as well. For some, they took that and dazzled many, showing that the future of fashion just got a bit brighter. A great example of this is Russian designer Kira Plastinina. With a collection of fresh and funky looks, you can see by her pallete that she deffinitly is aware of clientel type tastes, and can fit the requirements well. While still daring and unafrai with mixing colors and patterns Plastinina's designs are always blended so well.

Chanel
While we all know the classic Chanel suits which even if made decades ago will still be red carpet ready, the timeless ensemble was beautifuly altered with different cuts and color styles in order to create a modern look for the new season. The basics however, from regular skirst tops and knited items which Chanel is known best for, were still in view despite the upheaval. Despite any changes, the collection still keept the indpendent yet classic elegance which the line is best known for. To see a collection that was still able to keep to what the representation of what Chanel represents, and keep up with the times is just an amazing feat only able to be done on by an amazing label such as Chanel.

Carlos Miele
Despite his usual inventive forte for his pieces, Miele's picks for spring were still amazingly wearable while still having a cutting edge with the color choices and styles. Despite the obvjously innovative creations, the designer still held on to the cuts required to make a woman's body a masterpiece dressed in a masterpiece.

Charles Nolan
While maintaining an older style, the conservative view of this collection still has some young touches, such as free flowing skirts and a light feeling which echos from many of the choices for this season.
Monique Lhuiller
Whispers around the fashion world say that this new child of the fashion floor may be the next Valentino through her collection and presentation. The elegance and how the collection celebrates the women of confidence and sexyness.

The number on factor of this season is: COLOR COLOR COLOR. While we will not see the bright yellows and oranges of the last summer...examples of of bold colors for things such as tailored suits showed in presenations such as Gucci, while sensual patters will be a staple as shown by lines such as Just Cavalli. All in all, this promises to be a very sexy season!

Mira Hinic, Fashion Freelancer: Hetty