since the beginning of time or rather
fashion
american clothing manufacturers were
taking detailed notes on colors cuts and
trends from their european peers
that is until world war ii when the
occupation and subsequent blackout of
paris gave america no choice but to well
start from sketch
and today american fashion is setting
the tone for a never-before-seen future
but how did we get here i'm hamish
bowles international editor-at-large at
american vogue and i'm here to tell you
everything you need to know about the
history of american fashion
our story starts with claire mccardell
the mother of american sportswear her
five easy pieces were born out of the
necessity to have easy interchangeable
items for life on the go
quite a departure from the fussy and
labor intensive designs seen in europe
the cargo envied the ease and pockets of
men's clothing
she cut wrinkle-free wool on the bias
for a more flowing comfortable fit
her debut monastic dress sold out in a
day where it offered american women a
washable re-wearable dress the holy
grail of modern accessible fashion
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in 1944 mccardle along with designers
bonnie cashion and a very young anne
klein were a design trio that shaped the
foundation for american ready to wear
but that's not to say european couture
didn't have a place on american soil
several designers remained true to
custom tailoring such as hollywood's
adrian high societies mambo shay and
narelle the king of seventh avenue famed
for his flapper style silhouettes
mid-century chemise dresses and of
course his iconic mermaid dress and if
the 1940s were the infancy of american
sportswear then the 50s and 60s were its
adolescent years and as with most
teenagers it was an era of growth change
and a healthy amount of rebellion
charles james was one such champion of
innovation his rigid structures and
layered creations inspired contemporary
designers like christian dior and future
generations including hulston and later
zac posen to charles james we owe thanks
for the wrap dress down jackets and 80s
approved shoulder pads not to mention
the first sports bra women on jobs
across the globe thank you for your
service charles
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leather goods and accessories too
sprinted into the limelight in the 1960s
bonnie cassian created the wildly
popular shopping bag tote as coach's
first designer you can still find her
iconic turn locks on coach bags today
inspired by the hardware that kept the
top down on bonnie's convertible
the late 1960s and 70s were a time of
radical cultural rapture and soon
fashion followed suit
american designers were still viewed as
apprentices to the european masters but
that all changed after the battle of
versailles the fashion show and
fundraiser held at the palace of
versailles in 1973 and indeed it was a
showdown
five french couturiers eve sanoho pierre
emmanuel
dior's mark bower and uber de jeroshi
and five american ready to wear
sportswear designers oscar lorenta
stephen burrows paulston bill blass and
ann klein fought a war of couture duking
it out to see which nation could produce
the most impactful modern fashion
the show was a defining moment for
inclusivity in american fashion with ten
black supermodels shattering notions of
what to wear and who can wear it and
they didn't just walk they literally
vote down the runway even liza minnelli
was there perhaps most notable was the
debut of black american designer stephen
burrows on the international stage and
of course the designs of studio 54
frequenter holster famous for his
pragmatic minimalist designs often made
of cashmere and ultra suede chiffon and
jersey
not to mention this pillbox hat from his
first career as a melanoma
these designers came to paris with one
mission to prove american fashion wasn't
going anywhere except the future
as the fashion world rolled into the
1980s three american designers were on
everyone's minds and department store
receipts
donna karen for her seven easy pieces
collection that paid homage to mcardle
calvin klein for his trademark
minimalism and fragrance obsession and
his gender-neutral underwear not to
mention those iconic black-and-white ads
and of course ralph lauren for his hyper
american sensibility and his polo sports
line
minimalism was the word of the 1990s and
the calvin klein slip dress amongst
other pieces was the answer utilitarian
styles such as cargo pants and hoodies
with american ready to wear brands like
the gap banana republic and eddie bauer
on the map and the emergence of labels
like fubu and cross colours not to
mention the winking logo appropriations
of dabadan were a response to the trends
and social movements of black and black
audiences
by the late 90s several american
designers had taken the reigns of major
american fashion houses and turned them
into globally successful luxury brands
marc jacobs for louis vuitton tom ford
for gucci and narciso rodriguez for
charuti
they were also shaking things up within
american brands marc jacobs perry ellis
punk show in 1992 was so ahead of its
time that it got jacobs fired but here
was art imitating life or at least the
seattle grunge scene
picture naomi campbell kristen mcnermany
and narja alman in silk shirts made to
look like flannel
greasy hair optional
consumers it appeared could now dictate
the trends that designers spotlighted in
their collections the student always
becomes the teacher after all
that same year jacobs won the cfda
women's wear designer of the year award
and it's no surprise why
the cfda created in 1962 to put american
fashion on the map refocused its mission
in the wake of 9 11's devastating impact
on small businesses
to fostering new design talent thus the
cfda vogue fashion fund was born giving
rise to designs such as lorenza schooler
rodati tom brown and kirby jean raymond
of pia moss to name a few
there is perhaps no greater example of
an american designer's fast pass to
paris than virgil abloh who debuted his
louis vuitton menswear line in 2018
from ironic height beast favored brand
off-white to major parisian fashion
house ablo gave credence to the phrase
out with the old and in with the new
that new of course was american
streetwear
so influential that you're just as
likely to see a professional athlete
wearing air jordans and a champion
sweatshirt to practice as you are an
influencer grabbing coffee on rodeo
drive but where does that leave us today
the last decade of american fashion is
one of unexpected risks and upheaval
just look at american designer kirby
gene raymond's first couture show for
pierre moss
every look in his summer 2021 show
correlated to a universally known
invention attributed to a black creator
brands like gypsy sport and telfar 2
owned by liberian american designer
telfar clemens have kept high fashion on
its toes and in its highest heels
community along with racial gender and
economic inclusivity are at the
forefront of their businesses oprah issa
rae and aoc have all been caught
slinging a telfar tote around town
perhaps the first vegan it bag
now american designers are making their
own rules and in turn influencing global
fashion
their innovation has proved once and for
all that elegance need not be sacrificed
in the name of comfort simplicity and of
course a high standard for values
and this blazing trail forward is just
the beginning
for now we can thank the american
designers models and organizations who
wanted more from global fashion than
just the status quo the sheer
unpredictability of where they'll go
next might be the whole point
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you