The Fashion Show Analysis

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The invention of the fashion show, or the fashion parade as it was called, in the 1800s was a means to showcase the sewing and technical capabilities of couture salons in Paris. It was less about selling the clothes shown but more to attract potential customers who would then custom make an entirely different gown, using details from the gowns displayed.

It the 1900s, American retailers imported the concept of the fashion show and reworked it according to the needs of the American public. Large departmental stores like Wanamaker’s in New York held fashion shows with themes such as Parisian or Russian and eventually for holiday periods like Christmas. And just like that, the fashion show became a little less about technique and

A niche subculture that thrives in parts of New York City, Paris, Tokyo and Berlin. Even with prices that easily rival those of high fashion houses, their garments are consistantly sold out. This subculture of the gothic artisan is pushing fashion back into the art form it was once reverred for. Reigniting the conversation of if fashion is truly an art form.

The man who is known as the godfather of the gothic artisan is almost mystical. Carol Christian Poell is an Austrian man who quietly locks himself up in a Milanese studio while designing a cult label that doesn’t always produce and only showcases when he feels ready. In fact the last collection was in 2010. Little is known about the man, few have ever seen him, no recorded interviews and is seemingly off the grid of modern social media.

He was born in 1966 and in his early years apprenticed as a tailor in Vienna. After which, he studied fashion design in Milans Domus Academy. Upon graduating, founded his design and production company C.C.P Srl with a partner Segio Simone. He presented his first men’s collection in 1995 while his first women’s was in 1998. Despite producing two new collections yearly as most fashion designers do, his distribution network and stockists are extravagent, over 40 dealers around the

Forget the fur-clad heiresses, today’s vip is the internet. The boom of social media is the greatest movement in fashion since Mary Quant’s mini skirt, and thus transforming the industry’s branding and fan base.

«It’s been incredible, absolutely incredible. Social media has made such a difference,» Lubov Azria of BCBG Max Azria Group says. Having Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour in the frontrow may be an important accolade for a designer but Tumblr’ers and Instragrammers are equally or some say even more important as they stand chipping away the monopoly of fashion magazines.

Using this new found power of social media, the people outside fashion shows have thrived. They are more like peacocks, posing in multi colored and patterned dresses, long skinny legs balanced on high platform shoes or wearing sculptured coats with flats.

Look no further than the fashionable Anna Dello Russo. Tall, slim with a bronzed body, the fashion editor is pratically a mannequin. The greater number of colors, the more attention seaking the better.

The fuss around the shows’ tents is important, so it seems. And as such the rise of the street style