A true wunderkind, pampered by a mother and three attentive sisters, the young Paul exhibited an incorrigible leaning towards fantasy from a young age. After earning his baccalaureat and dabbling as a delivery boy for an umbrella manufacturer – to break his pride at his father’s behest – he was hired as an assistant by...
The history of this garment – whose name derives from the Latin word camisa, a garment which is worn on the skin – dates back to ancient Egypt. It seems to have drawn its origin in a piece of Egyptian fabric pierced by a single hole for the head: the Kalasiris. In coton, linen, wool or in...
“I discovered in 1961 that girls were going to flea markets to buy old peacoats. I personalized them through the cut, the gold buttons… and the beige pants.” – Yves Saint Laurent
Ralph Lifschitz, later to be known as Ralph Lauren, grew up in the Bronx. Ralph would very soon become familiar with the ready-to-wear universe as a glove salesman at famed New York clothier Brooks Brothers. He was 16 when, eager to put his name on his own creations, he began to design ties. Diametrically opposed...
First appearing in Paris in the latter half of the 19th century, the tanktop became a bonafide fashion item throughout the postwar decades – assuredly sensual. Marlon Brando sported a simple white one in 1951 in “A Streetcar Named Desire”, very lightweight and tight-fitting, particularly indented both in front and behind the neck, giving tenfold...
“The bikini is the most important thing since the atom bomb.” Diana Vreeland
At Isabel Marant’s fashion house, everything is a matter of independence. To concoct her collections, the artist only uses what she deems essential; Isabel creates what she wants to wear. And next summer, Marant is seeing things through a modern art lens; she’s borrowing the graphic work of Miró and Tàpies all while changing the...
“Of course I saw striped knits on Chanel, Picasso, Brigitte Bardot. As a kid, that was how my grandma dressed me. The striped sweater is first and foremost nostalgic.” Jean-Paul Gaultier
“The little black dress is the foundation of a woman’s wardrobe.” Donna Karan
In January 1970, she slipped three copies of her modern and sensual dress into a trunk, and went knocking on the door of the high fashion priestess herself, Diana Vreeland, legendary director of American Vogue. “She didn’t come to see me with an idea,” recalls Diana Vreeland. “She came with a global offer, a product,...
