Fashion: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrowlaunched a phantasmagoria of Oriental influences, creating spectacularly
luxurious costumes, such as sable-trimmed gold brocade Cossack coats and
long gypsy skirts in iridescent silks. “A revolution... that will change the
course of fashion around the world,” proclaimed the New York Times in a
front-page article. “The most dramatic and expensive show ever seen in
Paris,” declared the International Herald Tribune.
Some observers complained that the collection was “nostalgic” and too
close to “costume” to be really wearable, but American Vogue defiantly
insisted that “What Yves Saint Laurent has done... is to remind us that
fashion, in its radical form of haute couture, is costume... It strikingly
illustrates the degree of sophistication attained by fashion’s analysis of
history.” This issue continues to recur in fashion today, as designers like John
Galliano pillage the past to create romantic fantasy fashions.
Paris remained the capital of fantasy fashion, but in the late 1970s, the
rise of ready to wear in Milan began to threaten French fashion hegemony.
Whereas the Roman couture was essentially an imitation of Paris, Milan
offered a genuine alternative to Paris. “Weary of French fantasy clothes and
rude treatment on Parisian showroom floors, buyers were happy to take their
order books next store,” announced Newsweek in 1978. The clothes coming
out of Milan were, admittedly, not couture, but they were extremely stylish.
“They were classically cut but not stodgy, innovative but never theatrical.
They were for real people – albeit rich people – to wear to real places.”
Backed by the Italian textile producers, designers in Milan produced high-
quality ready-to-wear – clothes that combined the casual qualities of American
sportswear with European luxury and status. “The Italians were the first to
make refined sportswear,” recalled John Fairchild of Women’s Wear Daily.
Significantly, the international clientele for Italian style included both men
and women. Moreover, they increasingly wore clothing that was not only
“made in Italy”, but that also expressed some version of “the Italian Look”.
In 1982, when Giorgio Armani was featured on the cover of Time
Magazine, the lead article began with a quote from Pierre Bergé, the business
partner of Yves Saint Laurent. Asked about Italian fashion, Bergé insisted
that except for “pasta and opera, the Italians can’t be credited with anything!”
Bergé demanded, “Give me one piece of clothing, one fashion statement that
Armani has made that truly influenced the world.” It was a rash challenge
to make to an American journalist, and Jay Cocks impudently replied, “Alors,
Pierre. The unstructured jacket. An easeful elegance... Tailoring of a kind
thought possible only when done by hand... A new sort of freedom in
clothes.”
Already in the mid-1970s, Armani had begun to soften men’s clothes. He
rejected the stiffly tailored business suits that traditionally symbolized