Chanel to Westwood: Fashion Innovators of the 20th Century

This short course will look at the work – and the design context – of twentieth-century fashion designers who have altered the ways that we think about clothes. From Chanel’s adoption of the ease and materials of sportswear for 1920s daily life, through Dior’s reassertion of corseted femininity, to St Laurent’s gender-bending tailoring, Mary Quant’s childlike mini dresses and Cardin’s space age tunics to Westwood and Kawakubo’s use of ‘ugly’ shapes and materials, these designers have challenged our preconceptions about beauty, about gender norms, and about dressing for everyday life. Pairs of lectures will examine designers working at the same time but with very different visions of fashion – Chanel and Schiaparelli, Balenciaga and Dior, Quant and Cardin – and analyse how each responded to their context and positioned themselves in a changing marketplace.  There will be a special emphasis on innovative female designers. A selection of international speakers will contribute their expertise and their research findings, and give insights into the challenges of working with historic fashion. These will include curators responsible for the Chanel and Mary Quant exhibitions.