Monday, October 25, 2010

Savoir Faire Then and Now

We know the big names of couture and the it designers of today, but how many of us really know the history behind a house or what the original design aesthetic was actually like?

Are the new designers who take over the creative directorships of these houses following the design aesthetics that the original names followed or are they going off in their own directions using references from the house’s archives to inspire them?

Are they reinterpreting the look, the cachet or just in it to make money? Where elegance and sophistication was the catchphrase most used to describe these “old” houses what would the catchphrase be now. Previously we could see continuous evolution, the refinement of a line, a certain aesthetic, what do we see now?

Here are some then and now photos of some such houses that had their beginnings almost half a century ago and what they are producing now? What do you think?

Pierre Balmain



Balenciaga



Christian Dior




Chanel


Givenchy




Nina Ricci




Yves Saint Laurent




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