Word: fashioned
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...fashion world went into shock. Why not a top French designer like Jean-Paul Gaultier to assume the Givenchy mantle? Or if it had to be a foreigner, why not Vivienne Westwood, a more experienced Brit, who has shown in Paris for years and even troubled to study Dior's own output in detail? But Bernard Arnault, whose LVMH owns both Dior and Givenchy, is betting his money that the route to a younger market--the new, galvanizing image that has evaded the old couture houses in recent years--lies across the Channel. For if Galliano is famous...
Call it the British spirit. In fashion, at least, London is reprising its swinging Carnaby Street days of 30 years ago. It may be that some of the duo's panache comes from being English. British culture is not hospitable to the zany, the innovative. It prefers solid, stout garments to high fashion, and Camilla is the paradigm, not Diana. So a young person seriously interested in a subversive field like fashion is likely to be highly rebellious...
...more specific source of the delicious insouciance that both Galliano and McQueen display may be the alma mater they share: London's Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. It is easily the hottest fashion school in the world, a magnet not only for would-be designers but also for established masters looking to pick up fresh talent for their ateliers. CSM is not the only prominent fashion academy; Britain is known for its tradition of craft and in general supports artisans. But other schools tend toward commercial and technical values, emphasizing the set of a sleeve or production expertise...
...young people at CSM consider themselves an elite (with good reason), and the faculty encourages them to question fashion's assumptions. Jason Masterton Copley, who is in his second year, won't budge an inch on his ideals: "I have spent a large part of my time being picky. I like the fact that the competition here is very stiff." He is also focused on a celebrated school tradition: the graduation show. It draws an international gathering of fashion powerhouses. Galliano's success began there, as did McQueen's; their offerings were swooped up by buyers or magazines. Copley...
Saint Martins is undergoing some growing pains. The fashion student body has risen from 250 to 550 since 1990. Not all the graduates can be represented in the show, and that is a bad blow to many. To stretch its faculty--and encourage the kids--the college calls back old grads, who work on a project basis. One is Bill Gayten, a cutter for Galliano. While novice tailors listen, he talks about the designer's famous bias-cut dresses, many of which he has worked on. Galliano demands toiles (patterns) not of traditional muslin but of the same fine fabric...