1 - 7 November 2001
Issue No.558
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 1 - 7 November 2001 Issue No.558 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Limelight
Fashion marches on
The lights dimmed. The frenzied crowds finally settled in their assigned seats. The star-studded front row wore their studious expressions in preparation for the serious business ahead. The incoherent, cacophonous noise they call music, pierced the ear drums. The glare of the multicoloured, psychedelic laser-lights blinded the eyes. Finally, and at long last, it was show-time! The perfectly gorgeous models strutted down the runway, perfectly coiffed, perfectly made up and almost perfectly nude - displaying what we should be wearing in the coming year.
Wars, disasters, catastrophes, may stop a flourishing economy in its tracks, cripple the tourist industry, paralyse the entertainment world, but the multi-billion dollar business of fashion, unhindered, undaunted, marches on. The season's fashion parade started only days after the calamity of 11 September. First it hit New York, fractured as it was, then marched on to other fashion capitals, London, Milan and lastly the city of light, Paris, queen of style, which authoritatively and commandingly dictates her new ideas to the rest of the world.
Fashion stands on firm ground - for clothes we need and clothes we must have! Many theories have been advanced as to why humans began to wear clothing. One of the earliest hypotheses is the so-called modesty/shame theory, also known as the fig-leaf theory. Ashamed of their nakedness Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves. Others argue it is to display beauty designed for sexual attraction. What we know for a fact is that after centuries of tattoos, ornaments, and painting of body and face, man started wearing clothes about 100,000 years ago, for the same reasons as we do today - to protect ourselves, to improve our appearance and to make a statement of who we are. Covered in the skin of a bear or a reindeer, man was not only keeping warm, but also conveying information about himself: that he is brave, that he is a good hunter! Clothes say much more about us than we think. They function almost as a language, indicating a person's age, gender, marital status, social status, nationality, religion and occupation. The eyed-needle appeared early in man's past, after the discovery of needles of ivory, bone and walrus tusks in Paleolithic caves, about 40,000 years ago. Scientists consider the invention of the needle as important as that of the wheel, and the discovery of fire. While one altered man's mode of transportation, the other his mode of eating, the needle changed forever the way he dresses.
Pantsuit-2002
By the end of the Old Stone Age, 25,000 years ago, man was adept with the needle and sewed skins together, using yarn from the fur or hair of animals or plants. Needle and thread remained the only method of clothes-making until 150 years ago when sewing machines were invented. Prior to that clothes were hand-made at home, or by special dressmakers.
From the ancient Paleolithic era until 1830, men and women sewed by hand. In 1830 Barthélemy Thimmonier, a tailor from France produced a single thread stitch machine, which so impressed the government, that within a short time he had 80 machines in operation turning out army uniforms. An angry mob of tailors, viewing the machines as a threat to their livelihood, destroyed them, almost killing Thimmonier. He fled to a nearby town and died in poverty. Nine years later, Elias Howe and Isaac Singer of Boston, Massachusetts, were credited with the invention of the sewing machine. By 1846 machines were revolutionising the industry making clothes faster and more readily available - a whole new industry of "prét-a-porter", or "ready to wear" clothes off the rack, was born.
While wars may not hinder fashion, they often alter or modify it. During the French Revolution (1789-1795) the elegant styles of Louis XVI were replaced by plainer fashions, but with Napoleon, elaborate clothing were back in style. Given the present day celebrity of the designer, it is surprising that it was only in recent years, that the garment makers gained recognition. It all started in France of course, in the mid 1700s. Rose Bertin, a famous French milliner was chosen by Austria's Empress Maria Theresa to improve her daughter's wardrobe. Her daughter became the doomed Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. Her extravagant costumes may have contributed to her sad end, following which Rose Bertin fled to England and continued to make her lavish costumes for European and Asian nobility. That was the first time in history that the designer of a garment was recognised. Charles Worth, a Parisian designer later introduced the concept of using live models to display name-brand clothes (1846).
Soon designers became as glamorous and as popular as pop stars. One of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century, worldwide, was none other than the Grande Demoiselle of high fashion and high society, France's own Coco Chanel. Born Gabriele Chanel. 19 August, 1883, at Sarnaum, France, she adored horses and often woke up at the crack of dawn to ride. That resulted in her nickname "Cocorico" or "Cockadoodledoo", later shortened to Coco. The name stuck. Coco moved to Paris at 16 and opened a shop as a milliner with several hats and only one dress, but "a very tasteful dress". Coco introduced her perfume named after her lucky number 5 which brought her millions and still does until today. By mid 1920s Chanel had established her "Chanel Look", a simplistic and fluid style of clothing, which conveyed a message, strong and clear about women, their freedom, equality and ability. She believed women should dress simply and comfortably and in spite of the chaos and bitterness of WWI, Chanel's business thrived, because she catered to the needs of the working woman. She showed them how to be a young, slim and independent girl, until she died at the age of 88, still addressed as Mademoiselle. A musical version of her life with Katherine Hepburn as Coco, played Broadway in the 70s. Observing the wide array of products offered today with her name in jewelry, make-up, accessories, it is easy to realise why she remains an icon long after her death in 1971. That is because, as she herself put it "fashion passes, style remains".
Film and fashion are inseparable; they go hand in hand, mutually infatuated with one another. Film stars depend on fashion for the finishing touches of their glamorous persona, and fashion is always at their total disposal. In the 90s, fashion supermodels replaced film stars as the ideal-looking woman, while they themselves dreamed of becoming film stars. Some of them even made it, like Cindy Crawford and Elle McPherson. Fashion shows have become spectacles replacing entertainment for luncheons and gala fund-raisers. Robert Altman's Prét-à-Porter, 1994, a satirical view of the flimsy world of rags had every star in Hollywood beg for a bit role, including Julia Roberts and Sophia Loren. Films often launch a fashion trend such as Doctor Zhivago in 1964 launched the Russian look when Yves St. Laurent adopted the style and other designers quickly followed. Flashdance 1982 had all young women walk around with one bare shoulder, and Breakfast at Tiffany, 1960, with the ultra- elegant Ms. Audrey Hepburn, a fashion icon herself, did as much for the little black dress in the 60s as did Miss Coco Chanel in the 30s. What is the coming fashion you may ask, straight or flared pant legs, wide or narrow necktie, short or long hemlines, "aubergine" or "framboise" outfits, I have no clue - I am still working on Mademoiselle's statement, "fashion passes, style remains".
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page