{"id":1289,"date":"2017-12-27T06:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-12-27T06:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/insider.utelier.com\/?post_type=features&p=1289"},"modified":"2019-07-15T10:16:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T09:16:03","slug":"importance-fashion-archives-for-fashion-brands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/features\/inspiration\/importance-fashion-archives-for-fashion-brands\/","title":{"rendered":"The vital importance of fashion archives for fashion brands"},"content":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s a fine line between adding one’s own signature style to a grand house while also remaining sensitive to its history.<\/p>\n
Fashion archives allow new designers to delve into a past that was very different to the present. It can be used in order to gain some insight into the brands DNA and identity, the construction techniques it employed and the research materials it used to inform the shapes and proportions it became famous for.<\/p>\n
Clothing was made more sustainably back then, with items made to last longer than a mere season.<\/p>\n
An attention to detail was bestowed on well-cut, hand-sewn garments that stood the test of time. With so much there to inspire contemporary collections, it\u2019s safe to say that any new designer at the helm visiting any fashion archives would feel like a child in a toy shop.<\/p>\n
Before contemporary fashion arrived, it was traditional for designers to dress their clients from childhood to death and the intervening years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Digging into the fashion archives of Lanvin and Balenciaga<\/h3>\n
Two houses spring to mind when we imagine the perfect fusion of past and present fashion.<\/p>\n
Lanvin and Balenciaga are the two world renown brands that stand out.\u00a0 Their archives have been used extensively, but have also been made relevant for a contemporary audience by countless designers – new and established all over the world.<\/p>\n
There are marked contrasts to their approach to design, with Jeanne Lanvin<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s aesthetic being one of surface decoration and fabric manipulation, while Cristobal Balenciaga<\/strong><\/a> redefined silhouettes and construction methods.<\/p>\n
The former\u2019s main ethos was to build an empire based on inspiring, creative and feminine fashion. Before contemporary fashion arrived, it was traditional for designers to dress their clients from childhood to death and the intervening years. Clothing was revered and passed on from generation to generation.<\/p>\n
Lanvin\u2019s signature style was to incorporate innovative surface decorations, in the form of textile embellishment married with a rich colour palette of original shades. These shades, notably her signature, Lanvin blue, were developed in her own dye house.<\/p>\n
After her death in 1946, and since, the management of the house employed thirteen designers in an attempt to elevate it from anonymity.\u00a0 But the long-awaited Lanvin renaissance only began in 2001, with the appointment of Alber Elbaz<\/a> as the creative director.<\/p>\n
To those in the know, it came as no surprise that Elbaz, would make his own singular mark while continuing to extract the best from the archive.<\/p>\n