Introduction
Fashion is beyond the human need of wearing clothes and accessories; it is the
portrayal of, and a platform through which society explains itself, or what it wants
to become. Depicting various centuries beginning with the historical images of
the garments of ancient peoples up to the present digital images of the latest
fashion trends, fashion has and always will significantly impact the development
of people’s identity. Because there are cultures and social and economic
revolutions, fashion always changes even when it recreates certain standards. In
this article, I’ll explain a brief on the origin, development, and history of fashion.
The history of fashion gives you different images of design from the 19th century
to the 20th and expresses how this fashion changing trends influence the
industry.
The Origins of Fashion
Clothing in the older days phase was primarily for protective cover, and it was
also the indicator of class differences. Clothing existed when early humans were
still using animal hides, and natural fibers to fashion some pieces of clothing
though these early pieces of clothing were not sophisticated as is the case with
contemporary societies. Though, as societies evolved, clothing ceased to be
merely practical, it became a sign of status and culture and also a reflection of
one’s identity.
Cultural Fashion History
As we have seen, clothing and fashion during the ancient Egyptian period were
linked with religion, as well as social class. The Egyptians preferred the use of
linen cloth because of its light color and brevity to the climatic conditions of the
country, and the use of ornaments related to social status. At the same time in
ancient Greece, there was more body reveling through loose garments such as
tunics and draping of clothes in ways that expressed more symmetry. Gothic
fashion, on the other hand, was a highly sophisticated affair that overtook Roman
fashion but was closer to the styles of ancient Greece, though with much more
embellishments and draped textiles as signs of wealth and power.
The use of clothing that was set up by these early civilizations paved the way for
the fashion industry as an art that popularized the functional aspect of clothing
but also added culture and social status to it. This fact remains true as of to date
we find the majority of the designers borrowing ideas from early fashion.
The Birth of Modern fashion (18-19th century)
Manufacturing started in the 18th century and fashion history can be said to have
started at the age of enlightenment and reason. Clothing was used as an identity
of elegance and the kinds worn were flamboyant, mirroring the European royal
courts. For Queen Marie Antoinette looking chic became fashionable and she
began wearing beautifully embroidered gowns, towering hairstyles, and
magnificent accessories. Her influence did not only stop at the court but fashion
across Europe and set the pace for which fashion became an art.
19th Century Fashion History
However, the nineteenth century experienced a revolution that was highly known
as the Industrial Revolution. The sewing machine became one of the defining
pieces of technology in the process of clothing construction, making it a much
faster and cheaper process. This, in turn, paved the way to the industrialization of
garment production and due to this, fashion became available to the middle-
income group of people. Fashion was no longer limited to the nobility, and
became a way for anyone of any social standing to proclaim who they were and
what they did. Pre-modern fashion continued to grow and develop with the
introduction of powerful forces such as department stores and fashion magazines
which prepared the market for the contemporary fashion market.
Such evolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries were the cornerstone of today’s
modern and complex fashion industry.
20th Century fashion evolution
The modernity of the century accentuates the abundant change that took place in
the fashion industry due to social, cultural, and technological factors.
1. The 1920s to 1950s
Also, the 20-ties, which is called the roaring twentieth shocked the world with
flapper style with short hems and loose contours. Speaking of the newly gained
freedoms for women, fashion liberated women’s bodies and became a way to
express themselves. The style of the 1930s and 1940s was influenced by the
Great Depression and the Second World War, proven by the fact that during
those years fashion was more modest and not as expressive as before. But there
was a return to the glamour of the thirties and forties in the post-war fifties, and
Christian Dior’s “New Look” celebrated the waist and full skirt.
2. 1960s to 1980s
The 1960s and the 1970s were the decades of claiming one’s freedom and
rebellion against the traditional approaches to life. London was a genuine mod
fashion capital and music-influenced styles, starting with pop art of the sixties
from tie and breed and topping with hippie movements that brought psychedelic
prints. Power dressing of the eighties also brought new colors and the dramatic
shapes of oversized garments and most importantly debut of designer wear like
Versace and Armani.
3. 1990s to 2000s
The minimalism movement emerged in the early 1990s and it was headed by
Calvin Klein and Helmut Lang who popularized fashion that eliminated
elaboration and referred mainly to functionality. The impact of technology
emerged and became rather profound as fashion entered the sphere of
digitization with the development of online shopping and the emergence of social
media's influence on trends. It was also in this period that the concept of fast
fashion began to emerge: the clothes that symbols of youthful royalty in movies
like Clueless were wearing were beginning to be mass-produced on the cheap by
retailers like Zara.
Fashion in the 21st Century
Globalization and Technology
● Due to the further development of such a sphere as the internet and social
networks, trends in fashion emerge and circulate in the world.
● Perhaps it is high time that people began to pay attention to how powerful
those referring to platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are, altering
consumer trends in the process.
● Fashion is also much more democratic now because of the opportunity of
online shopping and this is why more and more new brands begin to work
directly with the consumers.
Sustainable Fashion
● There are more demands of stewardship from customers in terms of
environmental and social issues in the integration of sustainability and
ethical fashion.
● There are other issues to uphold such as environmental consciousness on
some of the fabrics used, their production process, the treatment of
workers, and reducing the amount of trash that's being made.
● Some of the companies at the frontier in the sustainable fashion industry
include Patagonia and Stella McCartney.
Cultural Diversity
● Unlike in the past, today’s fashion does not necessarily dictate that one
has to have the ideal thin body type or be of a specific ethnic origin or
background.
● Professionals in the fashion sector are focusing their creativity on different
cultures, thus making beauty and fashion embrace diversity.
● That kind of change is rather dramatic and pertains to the shift of societal
culture as well as to that of the consumer audience which is gaining more
and more international appeal.
The Future of Fashion
Looking ahead, there is a clear trend indicating that fashion will be determined
more and more by high technologies and the growing environmental
consciousness. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is expected to be at the center of
things, including, for instance, targeted shopping services and predictive
analytics of trends. Virtual fashion is also growing as consumers can download
garments and are now able to make use of Virtual reality fitting rooms. It may
also open the horizon of a new generation fashion industry where customers can
be involved more than they are at present.
Virtual Fashion
Most noticeably, the youth’s concern for the environment will remain influential in
fashion and influence brands to incorporate environmentally-conscious materials
into their production. Technological advancements in biodegradable cloth and
reuse and recycle trends of apparel along with environmentally friendly
production procedures appear to be the future of the industry as it pushes for
more sustainability.
Fashion of the future will involve applying the technological aspect with the
sustainability aspect creating new levels of creative as well as responsible
aspects in fashion.
Conclusion
In this article, I’ll explore the evolution and explain the history of fashion from
ancient Greece and Egypt. They started fashion and accessories in Egypt
because they had a sense of fashion.19th-century fashion is changing in the
decades from long frocks to jeans and shirts in the 2000s. Fashion in the 21st
century refers to globalization and technology, sustainability, and cultural
diversity that is environment-friendly.