Storytelling

Moving on from the pink project and we were given a trend story to look at. We had 2 weeks to collect research about our trend, including historical, shop/ visual merchandising and people research. My trend was the Rebellion fashion. Initially I was quite nervous for this project but as it started out as a group project, it put my mind at ease when discussing ideas with my group. I began to look into how people had rebelled in the past through their fashion choices/ designs.

Coco Chanel – Menswear as Womenswear

Coco Chanel, known as the matriarch of women’s fashion. She was one of the first designers to borrow from menswear for womenswear. She took on masculine styles when femininity was ‘in’. The influence to wear menswear derived from the fact that she would wear her lovers shirts, she removed the requirements of corsets. I feel that this is quite a rebellious move to start wearing mens clothes during the roaring 20’s when the flapper girl was the most common look.

Mary Quant – The Mini Skirt

In the 60’s Mary Quant created a new look that emphasised the legs. The shortened hemlines became the symbol of the sixties, the rebellion against the establishment. “It was very symbolic of the rejection of formality and the pushing back of boundaries”.

Vivienne Westwood – The Punk Era

Vivienne Westwood, considered the ‘Mother of Punk’. She encouraged her customers to adopt a look that expressed their frustration with unemployment, social issues etc. Her first pieces were her experiments, she tore up fabrics and used provocative slogans. Eventually punk culture was appropriated by the mainstream and the subculture ‘rebellious youth’ became a fashion trend. One of the main things that she pushed for was redesigning femininity in a fresh way making women powerful, sexual creatures.

Hollie Rose x