06/14/2013
50 Fashion Facts Continued:
These facts are the beginnings of the fashion industry in the 20th century and will take us into the 21st century as we reinvent the little black dress or the next “Valention red”. Let’s take a look at the next 20 interesting fashion facts.
11. The average American trashes approximately 65lbs of textile waste each year. 78% of people did not know that 11 millions tons of textiles are trashed each year.
12. We can attribute the little black dress to Coco Chanel. This garment is an ingenious creation of simplicity and elegance.
13. Georgio Armani established a new standard of understated elegance: relaxed designs for men and masculine, easy-fit designer clothes for women, precisely cut and beautifully tailored.
14. The Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani quickly became known for his amazing red dresses, all in a bright shade of red, which became known in the fashion industry as “Valentino red”.
15. NYC was the first City to organize a Fashion Week in 1943. Fashion publicist Elenor Lamber wanted to give American Fashion Designers a chance to showcase their work and compete against the more established European Elite.
16. There are about 40 fashion weeks in different cities around the world every year, but the four biggest are in New York, London, Milan and Paris. They are the most prestigious each year; New York is first, followed by London, Milan and Paris.
17. Each fashion week has more than 100 events and the top designers will showcase their collection including shoes by designer during the main week and the smaller labels before or after. The events include runway shows, gala dinners and charity events.
18. Fashion Weeks originally where trade-only events for buyers and manufacturers. This has changed and they are now highly publicized events which attract celebrities and the “creme de la creme” from all over the world.
19. The modern era of perfume began in 1921 with Coco Chanel’s launch of Chanel No. 5, an exotic floral blend, created by Ernest Beaux.
20. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen named their clothing line, “Elizabeth and James,” after their younger sister and older brother.
21. Marc Jacobs is currently the Creative Director at Louis Vuitton, a position he has held since 1996.
22. The first issue of Vogue was published on December 17, 1892.
23. Tom Ford, an American designer, was hired by Gucci in 1990 and soon became the label’s chief director. After Gucci acquired the house of Yves St. Laurent, Ford became the Creative Director for that label as well. In 2004, Ford left both labels to start his own.
24. The skirt is the second oldest women’s garment in history.
25. Marc Jacobs has a ton of tattoos. His exclusive tattoo artist, Scott Campbell, has applied the following images to MJ’s body: an M&M’s character, SpongeBob SquarePants, a Simpsons-style portrait of Marc himself, a couch, and the phrases “Shameless,” “Bros before Hoes,” and “Perfect.”
26. German fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld, was almost the victim of a kidnapping that was part of an elaborate group called Red Army Faction (RAF) which was a German gang.
27. The first pair of Doc Martens were made from old tires.
28. The crocodile of “Lacoste” was the first brand name to appear as a logo on a garment.
29. In 1997, PETA pressure group members dumped animal guts on Givenchy‘s Paris boutique doorstep after the fashion house’s designer, Alexander McQueen, used animal and bird heads in his catwalk show.
30. For a short time, some Christian Louboutin shoes were available with baby blue soles. Intended to provide the “something blue” for brides-to-be, these creations were only available via special order, and were very short-lived. Production was eventually stopped due to trademark issues.
31. Fashion designers of the 1500s showed their designs by crafting doll clothes versions of their fashions and taking them to shows.
32. In 2011, Marc Jacobs was ranked 12th on Out magazine’s annual list of “50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America.”
33. Giorgio Armani’s power suit design for women and men in the 1980s suited the economic boom years and he featured on the cover of Time Magazine. Only one other fashion designer, Christian Dior, achieved this before him.
34. Men were the first to wear jewelry as a status symbol and as good luck amulets to aid them in battle.
35. In 1939, New York City Mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia, ordered this type of panty known today as the “thong,” to cover up on city’s exotic dancers.
36. In the 1500’s fashion designers showed off their designs by making doll size clothing versions of their own fashions. They would take their designs to shows in doll size mannequins.
37. Within the past 200 years, children have had clothes distinct from those of adults. Children would wear adult clothing, just smaller in size.
38. Many celebrity men wear beards now. However, if they had lived in Russia when Peter the Great was the star they would have paid a special tax for their beards. This tax was introduced to make Russian men shave their beards and look in a more European way.
39. Hand-made items are considered very fashionable and valuable now because these are absolutely exclusive. But up to 1850, 70% of people used to make clothing for themselves. Fashion was not important, comfort was what mattered.
40. Short haircuts are pretty ordinary nowadays and no one gets surprised when a girl with short hair passes him by. Nevertheless, it hasn’t been always like this. Some time ago only unfaithful wives used to wear short hair. The hair was cut short to mark the stamp of infamy.
