Entries by Sheba Sheikh (71)
TFG Exclusive: Book of the Month
Monday, April 2, 2012 This month, The Fashion Grid would like to encourage its readers to pick up a copy of Justine Picardie's Coco Chanel: The Legend and The Life. The book is the most recent biography on the influential designer, beginning with her upbringing as Gabrielle Chanel, an abandoned child in an orphanage, and tracking the designer's various transformations that eventually led to the growth of her powerful empire.
From her days as a performer at the famous Moulins where she inherited the nickname "Coco," to her love affairs with influential, aristocratic men that allowed her to manoeuvre in higher and higher circles and eventually establish her own boutique, Chanel's story is more than a story about fashion. It is a story about love, heartbreak, feminism, the entrepreneurial spirit, society, politics, the arts, and overcoming impossible odds. Picardie began collaborating on the book with Karl Lagerfeld back in 1997 and was able to include never-before-seen photographs of the fashion legend from various archival sources. The following is a video of a BBC interview with the author herself discussing the fashion legend.
While many books have been written about the author, which TFG will be covering in future Book of the Month posts, here is some interesting trivia about the legendary designer:
- Chanel often took inspiration from men's fashions in order to create comfortable apparel for women in a time where corsets and large, ornate hats were the custom.
- Her contributions to women's fashion include the use of jersey fabric in women's wear, the little black dress, costume jewelry, tweed suits, and bell-bottoms.
- She was an avid believer in astrology and considered 5 to be her lucky number after her sign, Leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac, which many believe to be the reason she named her famous fragrance Chanel No. 5
- She was a good friend and confidant of Sir Winston Churchill
To read more about one of Time Magazine's 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century, click here to purchase a copy of Picardie's book. The following is another video of Picardie discussing her research.
TFG Exclusive: Fashion Quote of the Day
Friday, March 30, 2012 
Photo by Time, Inc."As a fashion designer, I was always aware that I was not an artist, because I was creating something that was made to be sold, marketed, used, and ultimately discarded."
- Tom Ford
TFG Exclusive: Profile
Friday, March 30, 2012 What do Ivanka Trump and Amelia Earhart have in common? Apparently fashion. This week, Ivanka Trump launched her collection at Lord and Taylor, joining the growing list of celebrities whose business strategy includes leveraging their brand name into a fashion line. The Kardashian sisters, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Rachel Zoe, Katie Holmes, the Olson twins, Heidi Klum are just a few of the many celebrities who have forayed into the fashion scene with their recognizable names and valuable marketing platforms- some have earned their rightful place in fashion, but most are met with skepticism by industry insiders. Why? Because none of them have a formal design background and many have yet to prove their longevity. Furthermore, there is a major artistic difference between a celebrity and a true fashion designer. While our TFG readers may think that this type of celebrity branding is a recent phenomenon, coupled with the advent of reality television, many might not realize that this type of branding goes as far back as the 1930s when Amelia Earhart, aviation's female maverick, was busy making history. This TFG profile takes a historical look at the courageous and stylish woman.
Amelia Earhart's personal style has inspired many fashion designers in the decades following her lifetime. While her leather bomber jackets and trousers may be commonplace today, they were as trail-blazing in the 1930s as Coco Chanel's banishment of the corset form in the flapper dress. However, Earhart didn't just define style and inspire designers that came long after her. Among her many endorsements was a fashion line.
What many may not know is that Amelia Earhart did not just license her name to a manufacturer. She played an active role in creating the designs and had a love for fashion that has understandably been overlooked by her "first woman to fly across the Atlantic" status.
I became curious about Amelia Earhart's fashion line after reading her biography a couple years ago. I immediately did some online research and found an old Huffington post article, decribing how Earhart created samples using her own sewing machine and a dress form with the help of a seamstress in New York. Below is a picture of her actually laying fabric on a form.
The original Amelia Earhart clothing line included dresses, blouses, pants, suits, and hats at price points ranging from $15.00-$55.00. Because her line was launched in the midst of the Great Depression, Earhart advocated budget-conscious choices and was the first to recommend the marketing of “separates." Below are pictures of a remaining sample of a dress and her label from her fashion line on display at the Hanford Carnegie Musuem.
While images of Earhart's original sense of style is a testament to her pioneering ways, her fashion line never stood the test of time. Perhaps because her life was cut too short. However, if there is one thing that Ivanka Trump and other celebrities can take away from this bit of fashion history- something which the Olson twins have proven- is that a hands-on approach and dedication to quality is the only way to have a chance of creating a fashion line worthy of longevity and recognition in the industry. Otherwise, rest assure the line could be just another cog in a marketing machine that just as quickly disgards as it produces.
