Influential designer of the 20th century Research Paper

Influential designer of the 20th century - Research Paper Example In addition to this, fashion especially women’s fashion during this period consisted of highly formalised wear such as chemise, drawers, corsets, flannel petticoats and the like. Coco Chanel sough to change all of this by introducing her style in fashion that concentrated on simplistic wear that emphasized the female figure above anything else. Moreover the fashion produced by Chanel relied more on automated production as well as simplicity that helped to drive down the costs of fashion wear. In this manner ordinary people were able to afford fashion wear as regular clothing. Coco’s fashion is also an extension of provocation right down from her apparel that represents the ordinary to her jewellery lineage that combined real and imitation jewels to spark awe at little cost. Historically the post World War One period saw a rise of feminism that had not been witnessed before. The vacuum left behind by men leaving for the front meant that women had to occupy all kinds of positions in society that provided impetus for their equality in society. The demands of practical work meant that women’s attire had to evolve to reflect daily considerations in work such as welders, fitters, police women etc. Women were finally in a position to dress up to reflect gender liberation. Coco Chanel was at the fore front of this very move in the fashion world. Among Chanel’s major contributions to design is her ethnic influence in clothing that reflected the clothing of Slavic peasants. Ethnic references to haute couture existed as far back as 1900 but Chanel amplified this design strategy by providing it sustainability. Most of the beading and embroidery used on Chanel’s collections from the early 1920’s were derived from Russian sources. Furthermore, Chanel fused oriental stitching with stylised folk motifs which represented her signature for a long time to come (Charles-Roux, 2005). Chanel also introduced embroidered