Gianni Versace

Gianni Versace

"I think it's the responsibility of a designer to try to break rules and barriers."

Gianni Versace, is responsible for bringing rock, art, sexuality and brilliant colour into contemporary fashion.
Gianni never went to fashion school. He was taught as an apprentice by his mother who was a dressmaker and ran a work and employed up to a dozen other seamstresses , and he made his first dress at aged 9- a one shouldered evening gown made from velvet. 

He studied architecture before moving to Milan at the age of 26 to work in fashion design. In 1972 he got his first chance to showcase his skills was whilst designing a collection for Fiori Fiorentini an Italian based company.

Versace then went on to design for many Italian fashion labels and in 1974 he designed a line of his own called Complice and it was the first occasion where his own name was included in the brand name.

He opened his first boutique in Milan in 1978. He sold other labels as well as his own, this was so the labels complimented his collections. 

In the early 1980s, with the global economic boom and fashion for lavish, strongly stated clothing, Versace’s ‘look’ flourished and his boutiques spread around the world.

In 1984 versace added the Instante label to his fashion label, this was targeted towards a less afluent and younger crowd, this label was similar to the Versace Couture. Also in 1978 his own very first Gianni Versace Donna collection was shown at the Palazzo della Permanente, a contemporary art museum in Milan. The collection had a floral, romantic feel and also included leather trench coats softened by wool fabrics of the skirts decorated with delicate silk and chiffon petals. Although the collection wasn’t a huge hit among the press to begin with, both Italian and French Vogue picked the trench coats to use in their editorials a few months later.

The Versace label continued to grow and, with new collections, Gianni would only vaguely sketch out his ideas, before trusting his assistants to make the ideas wearable.

Every collection was presented by supermodels – a phenomenon also invented by Gianni Versace. He never made his models adopt a new look as seasons change. Instead Versace polished their own, adding charisma and glamour to the natural beauty. He paid them enormous amount of money (as much as $50000 for a show compared to £1000 an average catwalk model would earn during entire Milan fashion week) and treated each girl like a queen who stayed in the best hotels and had exclusive access to parties, dinners, spas and private jets. He remembered their birthdays and always sent them surprise gifts and kind notes. He turned fashion models into celebrities and they made his clothes even more desirable.

In 1997, the world was shocked when Versace was sadly murdered outside his mansion in Miami. 

The Control of Gianni’s empire passed to his brother Santo, and his sister Donatella became the new head of design. However, it was Donatella’s 11-year-old daughter, Allegra, who was the soul heiress of Gianni’s fortune. 

Gianni's legacy lives on 18 years later and his impact on the fashion world will never be forgotten.

Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."
 

Coco Chanel, ring any bells? You don't have to be a fashionista to know this name. Coco Chanel burst onto the fashion scene in the early 1900

Her fashion career blossomed when she began designing hats for her friends and realised that fashion was her calling! She then made friends with lots of artists and writers living within Paris.

In 1910 Chanel opened her first store in Paris, creating  hats under the name 'Chanel Modes'. Her designs helped to establish her reputation. Chanel's Simple and elegant style of dress created a sensation in Paris and was widely imitated.

Chanel was the perfect example of a modern woman. Despite the fact her partner Boy Chapel had loaned her the money to start her hat shop, she became so successful that she was able to pay him back- which he totally did not expect women were generally not able to pay them back, this made her 100% financially independent.  She created a new look for women in the 20th century developing clothing in new shapes that didn’t require the re-positioning of a women’s internal organs.

In 1914 the war began and Chanel realised that women were going the have to go to work. She designed simple, classic clothes that women could work and play in. During the war Chanel imported trimmings and fabrics that were not available in France due to the war. The rarity of her designs were sought after amongst those that could afford them. She used men’s designs and adapted them to suit women. Pullover tops, cardigans and sports jackets are her most popular pieces and modern young women still flock to buy her comfortable, practical and stylish designs.

Chanel was the first designer to use jersey fabric for outerwear as well as underwear.

Chanel designed one of the first 1920’s drop-waist ‘sack’ dresses. She was also becoming a fashion icon and young women started to copy her look – slim, elegant and youthful with short, neat hair and bright red lipstick.

In 1922 Chanel invented the 'Little Black Dress' the dress was simple and accessible for women of all social classes this is due to it being long-lasting, versatile, affordable, accessible to the widest market possible and a neutral colour. The "little black dress" is considered essential to a complete wardrobe by many women.

Chanel she was the first fashion designer to release a fragrance and by 1929 Chanel No.5 was the leading scent in the world. She also made costume jewellery popular, as people had found wearing anything other than real gems to be considered 'tacky'.

Chanel was a trendsetter, she put her work before any man and didn't change her designs despite emerging competition, she was a woman to look up to and she has left her mark forever in fashion history.