[MUSIC] Welcome everyone. In this video, we'll talk about context in the fashion system. Materiality, meaning, history, identity, and culture. To understand how fashion has evolved since the mid 20th century, it's important to review what happened in the earlier part of the century. The study of fashion must be placed within its cultural and historical context, and cannot be separated from women's history, societal evolution, the quest for social justice or the civil rights movement. During the Second World War, femininity was essentially put on hold, and the post war years would come to be defined by a romantic and ultrafeminine fashion that completely contrasted with wartime attire. As Christian Dior said, we were emerging from a period of war, of uniforms, of women soldiers. I drew women flowers, soft shoulders, flowing busts, fine wastes. On February 12th, 1947, Dior launched his debut collection for the Spring Summer season. The show featuring 19 models on 6 mannequins, was presented in the salons of the company's headquarters at 30 Avenue Montagna in Paris. Dior himself has used the botanical term Corolla to describe his first line. However, the collection went down in history as the New Look, a term that was the brainchild of Harper's Bazaar Editor in Chief, Carmel Snow. From the moment you're unveiled his collection to the moment he died a decade later, Christian Dior was the most important designer of the post war period. The New Look became extremely popular, with its full skirted, longer silhouette, influencing other fashion designers well into the 1950s. Dior gained a number of prominent clients, including Hollywood celebrities, New York socialites, and members of the European aristocracy. However, contemporary reactions to the New Look were mixed. The French were delighted since so much of their economy was based on fashion. Yet not everyone was pleased. There were controversies raised from those considering the amount of material used to be wasteful, especially after years of cloth rations during the war. But the obedience to government rationing regarding clothing had broken down after the war. And even if Dior hadn't existed, a New Look was inevitable in fashion. As designers such as Pierre Balmain and Jack Phat were all moving in the same direction. As Dior himself said, no one person can change fashion. A big fashion change imposes itself. It was because women longed to look like women again, that they adopted the New Look. Before World War II, there existed persistent systematic discrimination against women in the workplace. With the onset of the war, the American government created posters and promotional films of working women in order to encourage them to serve their country by joining the workforce. At the height of the war, there were approximately 19 million women in the labor force. Between 1940 and 1945, the female labor force grew by 50%. Although after the Second World War ended, returning male soldiers reclaimed their jobs. And the government instituted another propaganda campaign urging women to return to normalcy. By 1950, the portion of all women in the labor force was down to 32%, mainly because married women had joined an extraordinary numbers over the previous decade, and had stopped working when their husbands returned home from the war. Most age groups, however, increased their labor participation by an unprecedented 10%. In December 1948, French Vogue said, the quality of American ready-to-wear them it's one to be well dressed on an average salary. The fashion industry had developed very differently in the US than it did in Europe. Claire McCardell was an award winning American fashion designer, and is credited with the creation of American sportswear, a revolutionary concept that aligned fashion with function and utility. In 1941, McArdle produced a line of separates that made 9 outfits from 5 pieces. And in 1942, she created her famed popover dress. As a response to a Harper's bazaar challenge to create something fashionable, one could wear to, quote, clean the house and then where to a cocktail party, end quote. Thus, McArdle created the concept of sportswear, inaugurating the American look, which became the defining aesthetic of American fashion for decades. With fashion designers such as Isaac Mizrahi, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Norma Kamali, and Cynthia Rowley all being influenced by McArdle. After the war, a series of global events snowball that would greatly influenced the fashion industry. On the heels of World War II, the Cold War between the USA and Russia began. The Soviet Union announced it had the atomic bomb, and NATO was founded. Moving on, the 1950s were a tumultuous time for the United States. The Korean War began in 1950. The McCarthy hearings sent a wave of paranoia throughout the country. And after a long uphill battle, the US Supreme Court finally ruled that racial segregation was illegal in 1954. These events also coexisted with the expansion of the world economy. When the Marshall Plan was inaugurated in 1947, the European economy was in ruins, but a decade later it was booming. This was the moment when fashion for all became a reality. It is therefore necessary to analyze the wider historical context. When fashion evolved, it acquired meaning and the structure of the fashion system itself radically changed. America's war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement led by Dr. Luther King, had a lasting impact on not only US politics and culture, but the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 70s that continues up to the present day with the Black Lives Matter Movement. During the 60s, the fashion and pop culture industries led by social and political activists, were fueled by a young population with disposable incomes, and a dissatisfaction with the status quo. This combination created styles that were revolutionary. The Black Panthers, the Hippies, Yippies, and other political and social movements had an equally stylistic image. And the 1960s became the era when youth culture began to truly influence mainstream fashion, and the fashion world responded. Their 7th Avenue was taking notice of the hippie styles worn on Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, and the Mod statements on Carnaby Street in London. Thus, niche marketing began its initial ascent from the modernists of the early to mid 60s to the preppies and hippies. Fashion was now being absorbed, interpreted, and sold back to the youth of the world, which led to the term youthquake. In their relentless pursuit of the new, the fashion media were put to promote hippie styles. Although, the hippies themselves believed that fashion was, quote, a system that society imposes on all of us to restrict our freedom, end quote. In turn, hippies rejected fashion and tended to look for inspiration from other eras and cultures. For example, the Beatles had many of their garments created by a design collective known as The Fool. Who has idealist approach of creating brightly colored garments drawn from traditional cultures around the world might, in fact today, be considered cultural appropriation. Many perceive the hippie look to be one of a rampant individualism and a do it yourself approach that rejected fashion's tyranny. Much like the grunge movement did in the early 90s before it was also co-opted by the mainstream fashion industry. By 1969, Vogue announced that in fashion, their revolution is over. In the 1960s, the fashion industry also began to fracture into different sections. Haute coyture, Pret-a-poter Rita and branded stores all made their mark. One figure, in particular, was at the center of this. In 1961, Yves Saint Laurent founded his eponymous label and popularized numerous fashion trends, such as the Beatnik look, Safari jackets for men and women, tight pants and tall thigh high boots. This all led to the 1966 creation of arguably the most famous classic tuxedo suit for women, Le Smoking suit. He was also the first to popularize ready to wear or pret-a-porter, in an attempt to democratize fashion with his Rive Gauche and a boutique of the same name. The Rive Gauche boutique was a daring move that created a template for designers that still resonates today. Selling through a designer's own boutique allowed for complete creative, and aesthetic control, and maximization of profit margins. In conclusion, we can see that the study of fashion must be placed within its cultural and historical context. Remember, context is everything. [MUSIC]
