Overview of Fashion

Foundation
Semester 1

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 Factors Influencing
Fashion

Social Factors
Cultural Factors
Economical Factors
Political Factors
Technological Factors
Sports
Music
Designers

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 Social Factors
Class/Segment, Income group, Gender, Ethnicity, Age,
Occupation, Body Shape

Awareness! People are more knowledgeable about

fashion elements and colors for the season. This
demand is self generated or imitated by fashion
magazines or window displays. Wearing a latest trend
is not trying to be in sync but to feel confident.

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 Social Factors
 Office goers no more succumb to the typical sari or plain wear
salwar suits. The idea is to maintain the formal décor and this is
possible with specially tailored office suits be it a pant suit or a
skirt jacket. The variations in the length of the skirt is to be dealt
with decency.

 Awareness! Teenage and Kids are more knowledgeable about

fashion elements and colors for the season. This demand is self
generated or imitated by fashion magazines or window displays.
Wearing a latest trend is not trying to be in sync but to feel
confident.

 Comfort is required in all arenas be it kids wear, shoes, sports wear

or gadgets. This makes more need for designers to experiment on
newer creations.

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 Cultural Influences
  Since the 1960s, sources of fashion influence have multiplied. 
Centers of fashion influence include Paris, Milan, Tokyo, London,
New York and Los Angeles. 
 Fashion no longer "trickles down" from couture to the mainstream;
fashion directions come from everywhere - various ethnic groups,
youth looks from the street, etc.
 By the late 1960s,  interest in the world's cultures was evident in
fashion.  Designers stopped "looking to the future for inspiration and
began to plunder the world's ethnic minorities.  Every culture had
something to offer" . 
 Fashion designers have since incorporated more and more design
elements from other cultures into their lines Contributing to this trend
is the fact that ethnic diversity has become more evident in the US.A
few examples of ethnic influences found during this time period
include:
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• 1963     Hawaiian Influence  - "Blue
Hawaii" - Elvis film - set in Hawaii
• 1965     Russian Influences  - "Dr.
Zhivago" - film - set during Russian
revolution - overcoats worn by Russian
military and by Julie Christie, the female
lead, in the film inspired coat designs
• 1976     Russian Influences  - Yves St.
Laurent was inspired by Russian
influences for his Winter 1976-77 line..
 In this collection, St. Laurent was
inspired elements of European peasant
dress (embroidered folk blouses,
milkmaid's tunics, and Cossack
[Russian]  costume) and transformed
them into fabulous couture garments
1977     Egyptian Influences  -  King
Tut's treasures visit US; US designers
inspired; jewelry, makeup and a few
clothing items inspired by Egypt (Tortora
& Eubank, 1994). Steve Martin performs
"King Tut “ on Saturday Night Live

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 Indian Culture
 The 1960’s have been characterized as a decade of rebellion, nonconformity,
counterculture, and above all a period of youth.

 The disaffected youth in the 1960s developed habits of dress, recreation, and
lifestyles to express their alternative values and attitudes.  One of the ways the
youth of the 60s showed their rebellion against tradition was in the manner
which they dressed.  The style of dress worn by the youth symbolized both the
rejection of the middle-class culture and assertion of a counterculture.

 In America during the 60s and early 70s, there was widespread interest in Indian
culture in the fields of art, philosophy, and religion.  Basically, three groups of
people were responsible for introducing young Americans to Indian culture and
philosophy during the 1960s:  intellectuals, musicians, and religious leaders.

 Intellectuals such as Alan Watts and Allen Ginsberg introduced Eastern

religions (Hinduism and Zen Buddhism) to American youth while lecturing at
colleges around the country. 

 Popular musicians, such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, showed interest in
Indian religions and music.  The Beatles traveled to India in 1968 to study
transcendental meditation.  George Harrison studied Indian music from Ravi
Shankar, a famous Indian sitarist, and the Beatles began incorporating Indian
elements into their music.  Additionally, Indian musicians toured US campuses
in the 60s and early 70s (Kim, 1990).
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  Cultural Authentication of Indian dress in the US
    In incorporating Indian costume styles into 1960s contemporary American fashion, the degree
of cultural authenticity varied between social systems.
The styles found in high and mainstream fashion were transformed considerably and
substantially in form and meaning.
 Nehru Jacket
    The Nehru Jacket was one element of Indian dress that penetrated western dress.  This style of
jacket was single breasted and slightly fitted with a band collar.  It was based on a traditional
Indian jacket and named after the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru because he
commonly wore this traditional garment.  This jacket was worn as an alternative to the suit
jacket.  For some, particularly when worn with beads, it represented a mid-point between
conformity and the hippie. It was popular from 1966 to 1968 (Baines, 1981; Tortora & Eubank,
1994).
 Tie Dye
     The psychedelic tie-dyed garments of the sixties, seventies and today are derived from an
Indian resist-dyeing technique called bandhani (Hindi for "tie" or "bind"). This ancient process
involves binding tiny areas of the fabric to develop a fine linear pattern made up of small dots.
The motifs are predominantly inspired by nature. The fabric may be dyed several times,
different areas of the design are tied to prevent the dye from penetrating those areas; the lightest
color is always used first

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 Chinese Influence 1960 -present
    Political events and the reopening of trade between China and the West instigated the
trend toward Chinese inspired apparel in the early 1970s.  In the late 1960s, China's long
isolation from the West began to end.  In Europe, the Chinese worker's suit became a mode;
the Mao suits were found in Parisian fashions in 1967. 
    Again in the 1990s, political events have caused a trend toward Chinese inspired apparel. 
China's struggle for Democracy brought it to the forefront of national news in the 1990s. 
The Tiananmen Square Massacre occurred in June 1989.  On June 30, 1997, Hong Kong
was reunified with China after 157 years of British rule.  This especially has brought
Chinese influences into Western apparel over the last few years.  Mandarin collars, cheong
sam (chi pao) variations, fabrics with typical Chinese motifs such as the dragon have been
very popular.
    Additionally, designers of Chinese heritage have come on to the fashion scene in the
1990s, including Anna Sui and Vivienne Tam.

Mao,
9 wearing the suit,
meets Nixon
Important Designers influenced Fashion
 Armani - brought soft Italian tailoring to women's wear in the 80s.  "It is impossible to overestimate the
influence of Georgio Armani on late twentieth century fashion.  His unstructured, beautifully made suits
are high on the wish-lists of all sorts of women"
 Courreges - Associated with "space age" designs.
 Rudi Gernreich - Known for sport clothes and for such radical looks as a topless swimsuit, see-through
blouses and 'no-bra' bras in the 1960s.
 Halston - the quintessential 70s look.  soft layered effects, pantsuits or jumpsuits.
 Donna Karan - dresses women like herself.  Casual, soft looks; lots of knits.
 Calvin Klein - Klein's signature is immediately recognizable.  He has a spare, lean and simple look that
makes everything sexy and sophisticated in the subtlest of ways. Or in Klein's own words: "My personal
philosophy of style is simplicity. Minimalism to me is the sexiest quality a man or  woman can posses." 
He works in every fashion category for men and women, including tailored clothing, home furnishings
and accessories.  He has made his name not only through designs that lead, rather than follow the pack,
but through a knack for promotion and especially his provocative advertising campaigns, that tick some
people off and titillate others, but in every case, make you remember his name

 Karl Lagerfeld - took over Chanel line in 1982.

 Ralph Lauren - known for western looks, outdoor wear and use of natural fiber fabrics
 Mary Quant - Influential in the Mod styles of the 1960s.  Important for the mini-skirt of the late 1960s. 
Helped make London a fashion center in the 1960s
 Yves St. Laurent - originated many innovative styles, soft fluid looks, impeccable couture styling, often
uses ethnic inspirations.  Was at Dior before opening his own house in 1962.  YSL "is the designer who
most exactly defines the main thrust of fashion" (Clancy, 1996, p. 160) in the early 80s.

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 Economical Factors
 Asian Countries like India are emerging from recession. Younger age group &
more spending power, international brands are coming in henceforth economy is
strengthening.
 Spending power of people is increasing. Almost all graduates enroll themselves
in professional courses and position themselves in respecting posts --- more
disposable income
 When the economy is bad and conservatives are in office, people tend to dress
more severely. During periods of more liberal administrations, and when the
economy is doing well, fashion becomes more extreme, more expensive, and
more colorful. Hemlines rise and clothing becomes more flamboyant and free-
spirited eg:- recession time (sale) lesser merchandise in stores, 9/11

 Changes in fashion help to keep the manufacturers, distributors and retailers of

clothing and footwear in business. It also provides work for advertisers, models
and various others. The media benefit from the advertising revenue.

 Spending patterns is now going towards high fashion & luxury products,
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retailers and manufacturers working at margins between 100 to 200%
  The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of
the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s
or early 1940s. It was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century, and is used in the 21st
century as an example of how far the world's economy can decline. The Great Depression had devastating effects in
virtually every country, rich and poor. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, and international trade
plunged by half to two-thirds. Unemployment in the United States rose to 25%, and in some countries rose as high as 33%
 The "dot-com bubble" (or sometimes the "I.T. bubble”) was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1998–2001 (during
which stock markets in Western nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more recent Internet sector
and related fields.
 The period was marked by the founding of a group of new Internet-based companies commonly referred to as dot-coms.
Companies were seeing their stock prices shoot up if they simply added an "e-" prefix to their name and/or a ".com" to the
end, which one author called "prefix investing".
 A combination of rapidly increasing stock prices, market confidence that the companies would turn future profits, individual
speculation in stocks, and widely available venture capital created an environment in which many investors were willing to
overlook traditional metrics such as price to earnings ratios in favor of confidence in technological advancements
 People in high spirits, spending patterns towards luxury products was the call of the day, retailers and manufacturers
working at margins between 100 to 200%

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 The bubble bursts
 Over 1999 and early 2000, the Federal Reserve had increased interest rates six
times, and the economy was beginning to lose speed. The dot-com bubble
burst, numerically, on March 10, 2000.
 People lost jobs, companies closed down and got liquidated…people curbed
their spending resulting on necessities

Current Recession 2008 – till date

 A recent Time magazine article alludes to the fact that, taking a clue from the
looming recessionary trends in the USA, designers are sending more black
garments down the runways. Actually this trend seemed to start earlier this year
with the showing of very bright crayon-hued accessories from shoes to belts to
handbags to co-ordinate with the darker Fall/Winter 2008 garments being
shown.
 Whenever the economic picture seems a bit uncertain, most scale back on
discretionary items and are reluctant to take on any additional financial
obligations.

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 Political Factors
 Political Events have always influence Fashion

 World War 1: After WW1 women wore shorter skirts and dresses. During WW1 women
worked in factories and it was dangerous to have long hair and long dresses. Women working
in factories had to cut their hair, and raise hemlines. world war one affected fashion by money
issues and based upon how much time and labor someone had

 World War 2: Shorter skirts, swimming suits, work clothes, etc. Women started to wear less
clothing and skirts became shorter because it costed less and money was tight in the 1940s.
Work clothes turned into nothing more than the army clothing soldiers wore in the war. Also,
leather and T-shirts became very popular in the 1940s

 Between the wars: The period between the two World Wars, often considered to be the
Golden Age of French fashion, was one of great change and reformation. Carriages were
replaced by cars, princes and princesses lost their crowns, and haute couture found new clients
in the ranks of film actresses, American heiresses, and the wives and daughters of wealthy
industrialists.

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  Gandhi: The first true Indian designer was Mahatma
Gandhi when he urged the people of India to wear khadi
garments. It was not only a call to create self reliance but a
call to wear something that could prove the unity of India.
Khadi was given a more important status by Gandhi after
his return from South Africa. While in search of the
charkha Gandhi felt that for a nation to turn self-reliant, it
had to return to indigenous manufactured goods.
 Mughal influence on Rajputs: The Mughal women used to
cover their faces , this made a mark on the Rajput culture
where women enjoyed much freedom before the invasion
of mughal and gradually the purdah system was introduced
all over.
 The American flag is used prominently in dresses where as
most of the countries bar use of national flag in clothes as
respect toward the national flag.
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 Technological Factors
 The most radical innovations will occur in the area of "clever
clothes.“

 New fabrics will take the lead, and fashion designers will
embrace the decorative and functional potential of revolutionary
materials.

 Fashion fabrics with integral anti-perspiring or scent-releasing

features will become ordinary.

 "Technologists will invent more multi-purpose fabrics,

accessories, and makeup and extend the range of sensory and
audio products to wear. Computer-aided design will provide
made-to-measure garments for the mass market."

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  The fashion world of the recent past will still be
recognizable, however. "Youth will be in charge”.

 Pop music, videos, movies, television, and the fashion press

will still promote fashion's idols and help to spark the latest
fads.“

 There will be more sophisticated "virtual fashion" websites

to speed the dissemination of style ideas worldwide.

 Despite access to online shopping, people will still want the

experience of trailing around the mall looking for that
perfect outfit.

 Working from the home in comfortable, informal garments

will be an option of many, but the subdued suit and corporate
image will retain their hold on office workers' wardrobes
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 Sports Influence On Fashion
 Sportswear began as a separate category of clothing in the
early 20th century. Before this people had to adapt their
everyday fashion wear to the sports they were playing.
Sportswear in turn has had a major effect on every day fashion.
It is now difficult to tell whether many items are intended for
sports or fashion purposes, so blurred is the line between the
two.
 Brief History of the Influence of Sportswear 1960s-1990s
 In the 1960s sportswear began to enter the mainstream fashion market. The
tracksuit became a popular clothing item and this continued into the 1970s
with velour clothes that were incorporated into disco fashion.
 Tracksuits tended to be bright and baggy and branded trainers, particularly
from Nike were very popular.

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  As sports were popular, it became fashionable to be seen in sports
clothes -- sportswear fashion Became a part of main stream fashion

 Tennis fashion also became popular. The fitness craze overtook

America and many other countries throughout the 1980s. This led to a
sharp increase in sportswear sales and consequently influenced the
fashion of the day.

 Sportswear tends to be well made by popular brands and this signifies quality.
Brand names such as Adidas were often seen on the high street and
became essential fashion items for casual wear.
The technology used cost money to develop and investors and companies can
gain more profit by offering the technology to a wider group of individuals. 

 Many sportswear brands such as Tommy Hilfiger were highly

aspirational and seen as a status symbol and lifestyle choice opposed to
mere clothing.

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 Sports Influence on Fashion Today
 Sports clothing is particularly popular in hip hop fashion. It has become a feature of the urban street scene in which
it is used as a fashion statement and a lifestyle symbol rather than sporting clothing.

 These are examples of how sportswear and contemporary fashion are now collaborating together to make quality
fashionable garments. As both are inspired by the street scene and have a similar shared history this tends to work
extremely well. As well as sportswear incorporating fashion ranges, contemporary fashion designers have used
sportswear as an inspiration.

 Although brands still have collections designed exclusively for athletes and sports enthusiasts most also have a
fashion range available.

 Recently there has been growth in what is known as "luxury sportswear". These styles and designs focus on both
luxury and comfort and have been used by top designers who wish to add something extra to their collections.
Many fashion designers such as Stella McCartney now have their own sportswear collection, in addition to this,
sports players and specific sports have become inspiration for sportswear lines. It is therefore difficult to impose a  

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 The Rise of the Cult of Celebrity Sports
Personalities
 In addition to this many well known celebrities began wearing sports clothes as casual
items, these increased the profile and popularity of sporting brands
 Today the main sports brands include Adidas, Reebok and Nike.
 All companies spend vast amounts on marketing and try to attract sports personalities
such as David Beckham who has participated in advertising for Adidas.
 This is not a new concept, the major fashion brand Lacoste initially derived from the
1930s tennis player Rene Lacoste's sense of style.
 However, the current popularity of the celebrity and the great interest in sport has meant
that many wish to imitate their favorite sports star's clothing and style .

 In summary, sportswear has had a profound influence on fashion over the past fifty
years. The comfort and excellent clothing technology that is provided by sportswear
has trickled down onto the high street and influenced the fashion of the time.
Sportswear has been particularly popular on the urban scene and many fashion
designers have been influenced by the casual designs. Sportswear has become more
fashionable in recent years due to the cult of the celebrity, particularly the interest in
sports personalities and the celebrity endorsements used by big brands.
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 Music

The connection between fashion and music is one of

everlasting glory.
Taking Londoners by storm in the early 1960s,
fashion’s influence on music (and vice versa), became
something incredibly meaningful and symbolic to a
generation of young revolutionary minds

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  Vivienne Westwood & Malcolm Mclaren dressed the Sex Pistols early in the
decade in ripped up t-shirts with safety pins and bondage gear- which literally kick-
started the “punk” fashion aesthetic.
 Mary Quant invented the mini skirt and hot pant which every hippy & freedom
lover of the 60s adapted into their wardrobes.
 The bikini made it’s first appearance after being featured in the musical Beach
Party.
 Musicians started wearing psychedelic prints , while London Modernist’s style
became what is known as Mod- conjures up preppy images of the early Beatles.
 Andre Courreges created the futuristic “space look” with white boots & goggles.
 Brian Jones epitomised the look of a dandy with tailored velvet suits, anoraks and
flowing ensembles in bright colors.
 As the years go by there are more bonds formed between designers & musicians:
David Bowie and Kansai Yamamoto- who designed his Space Oddity glam rock
outfits
 Galliano and Madonna’s famous pointed bustier

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 Good site: for extra reading

www.fashion-era.com/sports_fashion_until_1960

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