Look But Don’t Touch

Modern fashion has existed since the 14th century, when it first developed at the courts of Burgundy. Obviously, people had worn clothes before then, but the difference was that now, garments generally had a tighter fit, were more elaborately designed, and that the style changed more rapidly. Fashion, in its strictest sense of the word, is defined by change. For the first hundred years, fashion was a pastime restricted to the highest echelons of society, kept from the rest through sumptuary laws which dictated who could wear what. Materials, styles, even the number of buttons on a dress were regulated in these laws, enforced by special police forces (the original fashion police!). 

In the mid-19th century the fashion industry organised itself through the invention of “haute couture”, turning tailors into designers. Charles Frederic Worth. One of the most important innovations was making the organically organised change ritualised through fashion weeks and fashion shows, creating a predetermined schedule and pace of when innovations were to be introduced to consumers. People became accustomed to this systematic form of change, and began to anticipate the continuously changing patterns and designs. 

Approximately a century later, clothes were being produced in factories in large quantities. Fashion designs became simpler and less ornate, suitable for industrial mass production in large quantities. You will see the difference if you compare a garment from the 19th century with what you’re wearing today; a lot of the differences in style is due to adaptations to the requirements of textile factories. We are wearing the effects of industrialisation. At the same time, fashion was not only becoming quantified but also moving at a faster pace, which led to clothes decreasing in value. Once a sign of luxury and reserved for society’s elite, today it’s a disposable commodity (and a not insignificant factor in climate change). 

The reason that so many people enjoy fashion is that it’s designed to surprise while also flattering the wearer. It’s a way to make the everyday more fun and beautiful. Today, this enjoyment is threatening to pollute the oceans we swim in and the air we breathe. But you don’t need to buy new clothes to enjoy fashion. One of the best ways is to visit a museum or exhibition dedicated to one of the great masters from the golden age of fashion (1860–1960) and learn about what fashion looked like when it was not only about fast-paced trends, but about quality and craftsmanship.

Musée Yves Saint-Laurent, Paris

What draws many into the world of fashion is the idea that this is a world of excess and few limitations. Parties and hedonistic behaviour are an integral part of product launches, and in order to succeed you obviously need a business sense, but more than anything, you need style. In this world of unscrupulous elegance, Yves Saint Laurent found a place to call home. As one of the most defining personalities of 20th century fashion, Saint Laurent came to embody an era and to invent an aesthetic that still lingers today.

After his brief stint at Christian Dior, Saint Laurent opened his own haute couture-brand, supported by his partner Pierre Bergé. His designs ranged from the wearable to the provocative, and inspired by his stays in Marrakesh, he began using colour in a way that no one had ever done before (or even after). For anyone who has been to Morocco and experienced the peculiar light in this region, the connection is evident. 

He developed with his times and launched a less expensive line of mass-produced clothes in 1966, at the height of the new youth culture. The name “rive gauche” alluded to the left side of the Seine in Paris, where the Sorbonne and all its students were – defining forces of this moment in history. In this way, Saint Laurent managed to be both luxurious and accessible, appealing both to the young revolutionaries and their mothers. 

For decades, Saint Laurent put his mark on fashion. He often found inspiration in art, travels, and interiors, and in the dialogue between these creative expressions, he found the shapes, materials, and colours for his fashion collections. 

Musée Yves Saint Laurent exhibits the couturier’s body of work on the premises of his former haute couture house, at 5 avenue Marceau. Here, the visitor can see Saint Laurent’s office, where he worked on his designs. There are also temporary exhibitions, thematically organised.

Cristóbal Balenciaga Museoa, Getaria

 ”The master of us all,” was how Christian Dior described Cristóbal Balenciaga. Born the son of a seamstress in the small Basque town Getaria on the Spanish coast, Balenciaga grew up watching his mother work, while she taught him her trade and craft.

Throughout his career, Balenciaga was devoted to haute couture, the highest form of tailoring in womenswear. 

The garments Balenciaga produced were all made by hand, designed with the purpose of being worn by one particular person. He designed the garments based on the knowledge of the wearer’s personality and lifestyle, translated through his high level of craftsmanship and sense of style. He began working as a tailor’s apprentice already at the age of twelve, and opened his first boutique in San Sebastian in 1919, catering to the Spanish aristocracy and royal family. The civil war forced him to close his business and relocate to Paris, but throughout his career, he continued to reference his Spanish cultural legacy through colour and design. However, his work is mainly known for its sculptural qualities, blurring the lines between fashion and art.

He made the garments appear very minimalistic, thus hiding the intricate construction – for example bodices, pads, weighs, hems and sets of buttons – inside the garment structure (which is why, when his work has been exhibited, garments have often been X-rayed, in order to show the visitor the complexities that are hidden inside). 

He was so successful that he had ateliers not only in Paris but also in Madrid and Barcelona. After more than 30 years in Paris, he seemingly unexpectedly closed his business in 1968 (the current brand that carries his name has no actual connection to the original Balenciaga). The date carries significance in fashion history, as this was at the height of the prêt-à-porter-development, where other couture houses initiated their mass-production, putting the label, which usually signified that the garment was handmade and one of a kind, on a factory-made garment in order to capitalise on the symbolic value of the couture world.

Balenciaga, known for his decades-long and close personal relationship with his clients – including Mona von Bismarck, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy – was not interested in participating in that kind of fashion system, and instead preferred to close down his business and move back to Spain, where he instead took up painting. 

In 2011, the Balenciaga Museum was inaugurated in his birth-town.

Its collection holds over 1,200 pieces designed by Balenciaga, many of them donated by his disciples, such as Hubert de Givenchy, or clients, such as Queen Fabiola of Belgium and the heirs of Grace Kelly. 

Armani Silos, Milan

In 1980, Richard Gere starred as the main character in the film American Gigolo, dressed almost exclusively in Armani. The film made him famous, and turned Armani into a household name.

It didn’t take long for Armani to become one of the most important forces in fashion. Even today, many fashion journalists and buyers still talk about how Armani turned Milan into one of the top fashion cities of the world, a destination not to be missed for those wanting to know what was new in fashion.

Armani is a minimalist brand, summarised best as “less is more”. Together with fashion brands like Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Jil Sander, Armani was part of a larger movement, driven by a vision of uncomplicated simplicity.

Giorgio Armani’s well-known devotion to simplicity is reflected in Armani / Silos. The formerly industrial building now houses a permanent Armani exhibition, together with a space reserved for temporary fashion exhibitions. It includes a shop and an open-plan indoor coffee shop, as well as a digital archive of the brand’s design legacy. With its four floors, Armani / Silos is a vertical experience, centred around the sophisticated staircase in the middle of the tall building. 

The name “silos” is a reference to its past, when the 4,500 square metres were used for food storage. Today, the space is used to display the more than 40-year long career of Giorgio Armani, where the different floors are used to cleverly organise the fashion collections on display in a thematic manner. 

Themes range from “androgynous” (on the relationship between fashion design and gender) to “ethnicities” (exploring the relationship between Armani and different cultures) and “stars” (unpacking the famous connection between Armani and the cinema). It is a celebration of Armani’s distinct design vision, which forever has changed the direction of fashion.

La Galerie Dior, Paris

There is an idea that a creative genius should look the part. Think of Vivienne Westwood, or John Galliano. Images of Yves Saint Laurent at parties in Marrakech. 

And then there are photos of Christian Dior, discrete and unassuming, with the style and appearance of a respectable accountant. He spent much of life trying different kinds of diets, always dissatisfied with his naturally round figure.

Born in Granville on the coast of Normany, he was the son of a wealthy fertiliser manufacturer, and it was expected that he would follow in his father’s footsteps by going into trade or business of some sorts. 

When Dior was ten, his family moved to Paris. For those wanting to learn more about the designer’s early years, the former family home in Granville has been transformed into a Dior museum. 

After finishing school, Dior studied political science and served in the military, but dreamed of another type of life than what had been planned for him. 

In 1928, together with Jacques Bonjean, he opened his first art gallery, which he ran, more or less successfully, until 1931. 

The following two years, he ran another gallery, this time with Pierre Colle. 

He had made many connections in the avant-garde art world, and showcased artists such as Giacometti, Marcel Duchamp, and Picasso. Dior was even the first art dealer to display Dalí’s famous paintings of melting clocks. 

However, in 1934, he went bankrupt (and became at the same time ill with tuberculosis), which forced him to close his business. Looking for a new way to make money, he began freelancing as a fashion illustrator, which led him into the world of fashion. 

In 1946, he opened his own fashion house, and the year after, he presented his first spring collection, “Carolle”. 

The look was very traditional, with inspiration from both the Belle Époque-style and the fashion of the 1930s. The nostalgia of the collection made it seem very daring, as it went against the grain of more forward-looking design. Instead, it had a sentimental quality, as it seemed to look back in time to the pre-war era forever lost, a feeling emphasised by the vast quantities of material needed to produce the garments, controversial in a time of post-war rations. 

For this reason, the iconic editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, Carmel Snow, said to him, “Your dresses have such a new look!”. 

Ever since, the house of Dior’s first collection has been known as “the New Look”. Christian Dior designed every season for the first ten years, from 1947 to 1957. These are considered the golden years of the house. Every season, he would reinvent himself. Today, this design process is known as revolutionary (as opposed to evolutionary), as it seems to revolt against the previous season, making what was yesterday the most fashionable garment appear completely outdated. Each season was more lauded than the previous one, and still today, Dior is synonymous with the style of the 1950s, in particular the marked waists and flowing skirts. 

At the time, most people could obviously not afford Dior’s garments, as the fashion house exclusively produced haute couture, meaning everything was made for hand, made-to-measure, in Dior’s atelier in Paris. For those wanting to know more, a great novel to read is Mrs ‘Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico, which tells the story of a British cleaning lady who dreams of one day owning a Dior dress. For years, she saves, until she finally has enough money to make the journey to Paris and visit the Dior atelier. 

First published in 1958, the book became immensely popular and was later turned into a film, starring Isabelle Huppert. After Christian Dior’s death, the position as creative leader was filled by the already appointed crown prince of the fashion house, a young Yves Saint Laurent. Saint Laurent’s reign was not long, and after only two years (1958–1960), he was replaced by Marc Bohan, who brought much stability to the house. After nearly 30 years (1960–1989), Gianfranco Ferré took over, and after him (1989–1996), John Galliano (1997–2011). A brief time, Raf Simons was in charge (2012–2015). Since 2016, Maria Grazia Chiuri has been the creative leader. 

What is remarkable is how all creative leaders for every season return to the first ten years of the company, finding new and personal ways of updating and interpreting the original styles invented by the company’s founder. 

At La Galerie Dior, inaugurated in the spring of 2022, the richness of the vast archives has been made available to visitors. The museum is located around the corner from 30 avenue Montaigne, where Dior’s original atelier was first installed in 1946. Ever since, this Parisian corner has been the heart of the Dior fashion house, and so it makes perfect sense for the museum to be in this very spot. 

Fashion is not about utility but about imagination and aspirations. To present fashion in the best ways, it’s not only important to show garments, but to create a context that communicates about dreams, telling the story of the brand and the role that the garments have played in the minds of the consumers. 

The gallery excels at this, as the presentation is both educational and emotional. 

At the centre of the two-story museum is an elegant café, with glasses and plates designed according to the Dior iconography. 

Even those not particularly interested in fashion history will be intrigued by the high-technological solutions and clever ways of presenting the remarkable journey of the brand, not least the staircase, around which miniature versions of Dior classics are presented, in different colours. 

Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Paris

”My obsession is to make women beautiful. When you create with that in mind, things can’t go out of fashion.” 

 Azzedine Alaïa never trained to work in fashion – he was educated as a sculptor at the Tunis Institute of Fine Arts. This is also what came to separate him from other designers of his generation; he viewed the relationship between garments and the body as sculpting a body through fashion, rather than merely dressing someone in clothes. To learn about construction, he would deconstruct garments designed by Madeleine Vionnet and Cristóbal Balenciaga. Alaïa studied the clothes, and then put them back together, in this way learning the process of creating a garment from the inside and out. 

Alaïa was not born into the industry; his parents were wheat farmers in Tunisia. In 1957, he moved to Paris, but had to leave after only a few days, as the Algerian war broke out. After the war had ended, he returned, and worked for first Guy Laroche and Thierry Mugler before opening his atelier – in his own apartment – in the late 1970s. A few years later, in 1980, he moved to larger premises on rue du Parc-Royal, privately dressing the world’s most famous women – including Greta Garbo, Marie-Hélène de Rothschild and Louise de Vilmorin – who would come here for their fittings. At the same time as he changed addresses, he began creating prêt-à-porter-collections, and soon Alaïa was internationally known. 

A famous anecdote is that André Putnam, who was a fan of his, was one day stopped on the street in New York while wearing an Alaïa leather coat. The person who had stopped her was a buyer at Bergdorf Goodman, who wanted to know who had made the garment. Soon, Alaïa’s garments were sold at the department stores in both New York and Beverly Hills. 

Even when Alaïa was at the height of his fame, he preferred to keep his shows intimate and small, and refused to conform to the schedule of the fashion calendar. 

If he needed to rest and take time off, he simply would not produce a new collection, and refuse to put on a fashion show. 

In this way, and even though he was a fashion insider, he was also rebellious and critical of the mainstream fashion system and its tendency to promote newness over quality. 

Design-wise, his garments were known for their tight fit, deft tailoring, curve-accenting seeming, leather work, and inventive use of knits. 

The colours he favoured tended to be the sombre, mostly neutrals and earth-tones. 

In an interview in Crowd Magazine, Catherine Lardeur, former editor-in-chief of French Marie Claire, stated: 

“Fashion is dead. Designers do not create anything; they only make clothes so people and the press would talk about them. The real money for designers lies within perfumes and handbags. It is all about image. Alaïa remains the king. He is smart enough to not only care about having people talk about him. He only holds fashion shows when he has something to show, on his own time frame. Even when Prada owned him, he remained free and did what he wanted to do.”