Fashion in Credo: Designers and Related Figures

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Tunisian-born fashion designer. He became popular during the 1980s for his soft leather, stretch fabric, and figure-hugging designs.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
Armani was one of the most influential designers of the 1980s. His success is based on his understanding of menswear and its adaptation to both womenswear and a more relaxed, contemporary aesthetic.

Welsh textile designer who established, and gave her name to, a neo-Victorian country style in clothes and furnishings using natural materials, manufactured by her company.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
Balenciaga was not an advocate of popular trends; his clothes were often formal: uncluttered, balanced and restrained. He frequently used sombre colours, such as shades of dark brown, though he later gained a reputation as a colourist and in a collection of the late 1950s showed lambswool that had been dyed bright yellow and pink.

In Chambers Biographical Dictionary
He worked in fashion houses and on costume design, for example for Jean Cocteau's film La Belle et La Bête (1946, Beauty and the Beast). He opened his own house in 1953 and has since been prominent in fashion for both women and men, as well as in other fields of design and business.

Although many questions surround Chanel’s early life, it is generally believed that she had acquired some experience in dressmaking and millinery before she opened a hat shop in Paris in 1910.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
During the early 1960s Courrèges introduced very short skirts; mini dresses with trousers and trouser suits in white and silver; tube-shaped trousers and trousers cut on the bias; white dresses trimmed with beige and vice-versa; mid-calf white boots; and goggles.

Although he intended to become an abstract painter, he took the first step towards a career in fashion when he designed a gown for the debutante daughter of the US ambassador to Spain which was featured on the cover of Life.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
Dior’s first collection, in 1947, originally called the Corolle line, was nicknamed the New Look. New Look dresses had huge skirts which blossomed out from tiny waists, and stiffened, boned bodices.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
By 1987, inspired by classic southern Italian cinema, they created a collection marked by romanticism and voluptuousness; the full skirts, ruffled blouses and lace shawls met with immediate success. Later collections included signature ideas such as corset dresses, gangster pinstripe trouser suits, floral embroidered coats, sexy black suits, empire jackets and leggings.

In Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, Routledge
Erté became widely know to the public with his approximately 240 cover designs for the American Harper's Bazaar (1915-1936). He also provided line drawings of dresses, fashion accessories and furniture for the magazine, and for the store Henry Bendel's, in a bold graphic style which suited the mood of the times.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
In 1990, he was hired as Gucci’s womenswear prêt-a-porter designer in Milan and became creative director of Gucci in 1994. He transformed the company fortunes with his sexy, erotic designs and Gucci became synonymous with power and raunch.

In Chambers Biographical Dictionary
British fashion designer. Noted for the unusual way the fabric is cut - on the bias so that it clings to the body - his designs are inspired by a range of historical and cultural references.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
Many of Givenchy’s ideas were ahead of his time. He designed an evening dress with a bodice that could be removed and worn with a straight skirt or trousers. During the 1950s he exaggerated the chemise (sack) shape into a kite outline, wide at the top and tapered toward the hem.

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
After working for French designer Pierre Cardin from 1970, he launched his first collection in 1976, designing clothes that went against fashion trends, inspired by London's street style.

In The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography
American costume and fashion designer.

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
His collection features an all-American, clean-cut casual look and simple designs at affordable prices. By the end of the 1990s he had become a major US fashion icon, particularly appealing to the hip hop and ‘preppy’ markets.

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
US fashion designer. He is known for innovative fashions infused with popular culture.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
US fashion designer. She launched her fashion label, Donna Karan New York, in 1984 and became popular in the 1980s for her executive workwear as well as wearable sportswear in bright colours, and tight, clingy clothes such as the bodysuit. In 1988 she launched the more affordable DKNY line, aimed at a younger market.

In The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography
Japanese fashion designer. Kawakubo is the founder of the so-called ‘raven fashion’.

US fashion designer, founder of Calvin Klein Inc., who became known for his simple clothing lines and perfume items. He founded the company in 1968, popularized designer jeans in the 1970s, and revolutionized fashion advertising in the 1980s.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
Although Lacroix’s clothes had shock value, he proved to be a sure-handed designer, confidently mixing offbeat combinations of overpowering colours and prints with high waists, asymmetrical draping and baby-doll shapes, particularly the ‘POUF’, a full, puffed skirt which was sometimes tucked up at the back.

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
German-born fashion designer. He has been a leading figure on the fashion scene since the early 1970s, and has collaborated with Fendi since 1965.

In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
From the inception of his brand, Lauren’s creations were characterized by a moneyed style that evoked the look of English aristocracy, as adapted by the sporty, East-Coast American elite.

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Her style is characterized as both romantic and funky, reviving and modernizing the 1970s style worn by her mother, Linda.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
McQueen introduced a rebellious, hard-edged style which included low-riding ‘bum-ster’ trousers, slashed clothing and garments designed to emphasize and at the same time deride the body’s erogenous zones.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
Miyake held his first show in New York in 1971 and a second in Paris two years later. At this time he developed the layered and wrapped look that was to become his hallmark. His fascination with texture expresses itself in his attitude toward design; he creates his linear and geometric shapes from the drape and flow of fabric.

In 1000 CEOs
Combining fantastic creative talent with strong commercial nous, Prada turned her grandfather’s small leather-goods business into a global fashion phenomenon. Prada is a fashion icon, yet eschews the fashion “world”.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
English fashion designer, whose ‘Chelsea’ look made London the fashion centre of the ‘swinging sixties’. She popularized the miniskirt and hot pants, pioneered the concept of the boutique, and built up a multinational empire selling her cosmetics.

French fashion designer, b. Oran, Algeria, as Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent. Moving to Paris at 17, he ultimately established houses of couture and boutiques there and in New York.

In The Columbia Encyclopedia
Schiparelli established a house of couture in Paris that existed from the late 1920s until 1954, and opened a New York showroom in 1949. A flamboyant fashion innovator, she popularized brilliant colors, especially shocking pink, her signature color, and created extravagant, daring, amusing designs (e.g., bouffant gloves ballooning to the shoulders, phosphorescent brooches, and handbags that played tunes when opened).

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
He showed his first collection in 1960 but it was with his 1962 collection, shown in Florence, that his name became internationally known. Probably Italy’s most famous designer, Valentino makes clothes that are elegant, glamorous and gracefully cut.

In Chambers Biographical Dictionary
His first collection of women's clothing appeared in 1978. During the next 15 years he built the Versace label into a multi-million-dollar concern, known for its daring, colourful designs

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
US fashion designer, particularly known for her bridal wear. From 1971 to 1987, she was the fashion editor at Vogue and then worked for Ralph Lauren for two years. Having designed her own wedding dress in 1989, she opened her own up-market bridal boutique, the Vera Wang Bridal House.

In Chambers Biographical Dictionary
Born in London, she was a primary school teacher in early adulthood, then turned her attention to clothes design on meeting Malcolm McLaren, manager of the Sex Pistols.

German-born US weaver and designer, closely associated with the Bauhaus school of design. She wrote many articles on weaving and industry, as well as two books: Anni Albers: on designing 1959 and Anni Albers: on weaving 1965. Her studies of weave structure, colour, and texture have had a continuing influence on the textile industry.

Richard Avedon's career spanned sixty years, beginning as a fashion photographer for Harper's Bazaar in the 1940s when he was barely twenty years old.

In The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers
American editorial art director and photographer.

English dandy. The son of Lord North’s private secretary, he attended Oxford and became famous for his dress and wit as well as for his friendship with George, prince of Wales (later King George IV).

From The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography
French artist. Born in Ukraine, daughter of a Jewish factory owner, she was brought up by an uncle in St Petersburg. Developed the techniques of Orphism, and Simultanism, based on abstract harmonies of colour and design, with her second husband, Robert Delaunay.

Poet, designer of textiles and wallpaper, successful businessman, father (often so-called) of the Arts and Crafts movement.

In Chambers Biographical Dictionary
Born in Lima, he moved in 1976 to London, where he established himself as a fashion photographer.

In The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography
She began working as a fashion editor for Harper’s Bazaar, acquiring fame and notoriety with her ‘Why don’t you?’ column, with suggestions like ‘Why don’t you wash your child’s hair in champagne?’ or ‘Cut your old ermine wrap into a bathrobe?’

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
Luggage manufacturer. He was a talented craftsman and innovator, and his flat trunk, designed in 1858, became the travelling luggage of choice for the wealthy.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
Born in London, England. Wintour has enjoyed an illustrious career in fashion magazines having worked her way up through Harpers & Queen, Harper's Bazaar, New York magazine to American Vogue in 1983.

In World of Art: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers
A term applied to a very successful catwalk or photographic fashion model, who is well known also outside the profession.

In Black Firsts
1937 • Adrienne Fidelin became the first black model to appear in a mainstream fashion magazine when her photograph was published in Harper's Bazaar.

In African American Almanac
Banks's career in modeling earned her attention as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in 1994 and 1996 and Supermodel of the Year in 1997.

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
English model and actress. After appearing on the cover of Elle magazine in 1986, she became a major supermodel in the 1980s and 90s.

In An African Biographical Dictionary
One of the most prominent African women to be accepted as an international fashion supermodel, Iman Abdulmajid has gone on to become a successful entrepreneur and businesswoman.

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
English model. Her waifish beauty became fashionable during the mid-1990s, in contrast to the popularity of the more curvaceous supermodels such as Claudia Schiffer.

In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
German model. A statuesque blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty with a curvaceous figure, she was one of the top supermodels of the 1990s.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
English model. Known as the ‘face of 1966’, she became the symbol of the decade. Her adolescent gaucheness emphasized the 1960s mini dresses, pale tights, and loon pants she modeled, and her short hair epitomized the boyish look in vogue at the time. She later turned to singing, dancing, and acting.