Ethnic Influences on Apparel Design

I think a lot of our fashion designs are influences by different ethnic and cultures, since the begining. Erte who is Russian, did designs for movies. Erte' was best know for his colors and details like buttons, tabs, paockets, and buckles to name a few. He brought to the fashion world the high collars, handkerchief hemlines and dropped waists(www.udel.edu/orzada/toc.htm).

The Japanese brought the kimono, which was originally called the Kosode. "The kimonon communicates personal and social messages of gender, status, and aesthetics."(www.udel.edu/orzada/Janpan1.htm) Standard fabric from in the U.S. is 45 or 60 inches, kimono stardard fabric is 14 inches, which is a lot more narrow than the U.S. (www.udel.edu/orzanda/Janpan1.htm).

Another ethnic style that was a big influence on apparel design was the Empire style. The Empire got its name from Empress Josephine, who was married to France's Emperor Napoleon. This dress has a raised waistline located under the bustline. Fahion historians feel Napoleon was inspired by the the Greek silhouette. This trend is known as neoclassical, and is was big in Western Europe and the United States. This trend has been repeated many times thought out the years, like the 1960s, early 1990s, and again int the first decade of the twenty-first century.(The Business of Fashion:Designing, Manufacturin, and Marketing. Leslie Davis Burns, Nancy O. Bryant)

Trends from N.Y. Fashion Week

This week at the N.Y. Fashion Week there were focus on a more bagger look and brighter clothing this year. You had designer like Alexander Wang using colors like pinks and oranges. (teamsugar.com) Also Matthew Williamson using bright colored jackets, pants, and heels. Tadashi Shoji had lime green skirts and anoraks as well.

Marc Jacob had plaids and prints and jackets galore.(nymag.com) Marc Jacob said that he "wanted pattern without print, so a lot of them were woven, yarn- dyed fabrics etc."(nymag.com) I was not a big fan of his plaid skirt he was wearing (that was a lil to ya know).

I thought mostly everything had a good theme to it. Somethings I didn't understand, but for the most part I do see where some of the designer were going.

Organic Clothing

Well I really never gave much thought about organic clothing. I didn’t real know that there was such a thing. The different natural fabrics are hemp, alpaca, mohair, camel hair, yak, cashmere, wool, cotton, linen, and silk are all consider natural/organic fabrics. I did not know that there are some fabrics that are harmful to the environment it is being produced.
Hess-natur.com states that “synthetic fibers like polyester and nylon are made from petroleum-based chemicals. Their production requires much higher consumption of energy and chemicals than natural fibers, and uses non-renewable resources.” Organic farming is one of the way Hessnatur produces some of there environment friendly clothing.
Cotton, Hessnatur by Miguel Adrover, and Fair Indigo are just a few companies that are producing environment friendly clothing. I think a lot more of our clothes should be made that way. It is actually better for on our skin and it is saving the environment. The fabric is renewable and it gets better over time. Now, I’m going to buy more of those types of clothing, because it is just better to use. It is a win, win situation for everyone.

My favorite designer

My favorite design I would have to say it Ralph Lauren. To me I think his design stand out different than the other design. One of the reasons I picked him is because when I look at my closet a lot of my clothes are by him (I have more Ralph Lauren clothes than any other designer). My favorite line of his to wear is his Polo (I have more of his Polo line than I have of any other of his clothing.One of the things that I appreciate about Ralph Laren is that his designs are affordable for anybody.
You have the Chaps line, Polo line, and Ralph Laren. You have his Chaps line that is very affordable for most consumers and it doesn't look cheap. Now, you can tell a difference in the Chaps disigns, and in the Polo disigns, but the Chaps designs are still nice. You also have the Polo line which is my favorite of all of them. The designs from the Polo line stands out to me from other clothing designs. It is like when I'm shopping in a department store, if I buy something it is usally a Polo shirt. One of the last shirts I bought was a Polo shirt.
The Ralph Lauren label is the one that cost the most out of all of the lines. I have seen a few shirts from this line, but I mostly have seen suits from the Ralph Lauren line. They are o.k. The last sportjacket I bought was Ralph Lauren, but I mostly buy his Polo band shirts. Ralph Lauren has been around for 40 years. His designs are known all around the world. One of the reasons that I am considering fashion a my major is because of him. People would tell me to go into fashion since I like to dress a certain way, and I would tell them that I just like to dress myself up that way, and one day someone told me that, that is how he got started. His design are things that he would wear. So, now I'm think about doing fashion. Maybe I could be the next Ralph Lauren (maybe). We will have to see (lol).