International Fashion

The Runway

Every year “fashion week” appears on the runways of Paris, New York and London as well as other international venues.  Designers present their collections modeled by professionals looking like bored mannequins. These collections are the artistic expressions of what is considered to be the most promising talents and also seasoned textile designers. While some of the fabric creations appear somewhat “over-the-top” they are intended to present the vision of what textile fashion could become.  Amazing manipulations of fabrics, dazzling embellishments and rainbows of color combinations can be seen on the “cat walks”.

It may be compared to the reactions from the art salons when paintings from the Impressionists, Surrealists, Minimalists and other forward thinking artists pushed the envelope.  Now we view these as masterpieces which reveal windows into the public psyche.    Innovation is sometimes disturbing as it removes us from our comfort zones.

But take heart.  Couture and ready-to-wear are two different animals, and the history of their rivalry is an interesting study in manufacture, marketing and creative ambitions.

This new addition to my reference library is not “just a history of fashion from the early days of the creation of dressmaking fashion to the development of ready-to-wear manufacturing…Its ambition is to be the story of the creation, the evolution and the implosion of the fashion-related professions.” Dider Grumbach

 History of International Fashion, Didier Grumbach, Interlink Boks, Northampton, MA, 2014

There are so many factors involved in the history of fashion and design, many of which, are not widely known nor considered.  This volume explores these factors in their historical perspective and introduces us to the many people who influenced its development.