1.
Victoria's Secret
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Victorias Secret is an American designer, manufacturer and marketer of womens premium lingerie, womenswear and beauty products. With 2012 sales of $6.12 billion, it is the largest American retailer of womens lingerie, Victorias Secret is wholly owned by L Brands, a publicly traded company. Victorias Secret was founded by Roy Raymond, and his wife Gaye, in San Francisco, California, eight years prior to founding Victorias Secret, Raymond was embarrassed when purchasing lingerie for his wife at a department store. The companys first store was located in Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Raymond picked the name Victoria to associate with the refinement of the Victorian era. The Secret was what was hidden underneath the clothes, Victorias Secret grossed $500,000 in its first year of business, enough to finance the expansion from a headquarters and warehouse to four new store locations and a mail-order operation. By 1980, Raymond had added two more San Francisco stores at 2246 Union Street and 115 Wisconsin Street, by 1982, the fourth store was added at 395 Sutter Street. Victorias Secret stayed at that 395 Sutter Street location until 1990, in April 1982, Raymond sent out his 12th catalogue, each catalogue cost $3. Catalogue sales now accounted for 55% of the companys $7 million annual sales, the Victorias Secret stores at this time were a niche player in the underwear market. The business was described as more burlesque than Main Street, raymonds philosophy of focusing on selling lingerie to male customers became increasingly unprofitable and Victorias Secret headed for bankruptcy. In 1982, it had grown to five stores, a 40-page catalogue, Raymond sold Victorias Secret Inc. to Leslie Wexner, creator of Limited Stores Inc of Columbus, Ohio, for $1 million. In 1983, Leslie Wexner revamped Victorias Secret and he discarded the money-losing model of selling lingerie to male customers and replaced it with one that focused on female customers. Victorias Secret transformed from more burlesque than Main Street to a mainstay that sold broadly accepted underwear. The new colors, patterns and styles that promised sexiness packaged in a tasteful, glamorous way and with the appeal of European luxury were supposed to appeal to. The stores were redesigned to evoke 19th century England, from at least 1985 through to 1993, Victorias Secret sold mens underwear. In 1986, four years after the sale, The New York Times commented, in an industry where mark-downs have been the norm, in the five years after the purchase, The Limited had transformed a three store boutique into a 346 store retailer. Howard Gross took over as president from his position as vice-president in 1985, the New York Times reported on Victorias Secrets rapid expansion from four stores in 1982 to 100 in 1986, and analysts expectations that it could expand to 400 by 1988. In 1987, Victorias Secret was reportedly among the best-selling catalogs, in 1990, analysts estimated that sales had quadrupled in four years, making it one of the fastest growing mail-order businesses. The New York Times described it as a visible leader
2.
Model (person)
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A model is a person with a role either to promote, display, or advertise commercial products or to serve as a visual aide for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Modelling is considered to be different from other types of public performance, although the difference between modelling and performing is not always clear, appearing in a film or a play is not generally considered to be modelling. Types of modelling include, fashion, glamour, fitness, bikini, fine art, body-part, Models are featured in a variety of media formats including, books, magazines, films, newspapers, internet and TV. Fashion models are featured in films, reality TV shows. Celebrities, including actors, singers, sports personalities and reality TV stars, modelling as a profession was first established in 1853 by Charles Frederick Worth, the father of haute couture, when he asked his wife, Marie Vernet Worth, to model the clothes he designed. The term house model was coined to describe this type of work, eventually, this became common practice for Parisian fashion houses. There were no standard physical measurement requirements for a model, with the development of fashion photography, the modelling profession expanded to photo modelling. Models remained fairly anonymous, and relatively poorly paid, until the late 1950s, one of the first well-known models was Lisa Fonssagrives, who was very popular in the 1930s. Fonssagrives appeared on over 200 Vogue covers, and her name recognition led to the importance of Vogue in shaping the careers of fashion models. In 1946, Ford Models was established by Eileen and Gerard Ford in New York, one of the most popular models during the 1940s was Jinx Falkenburg who was paid $25 per hour, a large sum at the time. During the 1940s and 1950s, Wilhelmina Cooper, Jean Patchett, Dovima, Dorian Leigh, Suzy Parker, Evelyn Tripp, Carmen DellOrefice, dorothea Church was among the first black models in the industry to gain notoriety in Paris. However, these models were unknown outside the fashion community, compared to todays models, the models of the 1950s were more voluptuous. Wilhelmina Coopers measurements were 38-24-36 whereas Chanel Imans measurements are 32-23-33, in the 1960s, the modelling world began to establish modelling agencies. Throughout Europe, secretarial services acted as models agents charging them weekly rates for their messages, for the most part, models were responsible for their own billing. In Germany, agents were not allowed to work for a percentage of a persons earnings, with the exception of a few models travelling to Paris or New York, travelling was relatively unheard of for a model. Most models only worked in one market due to different labor laws governing modelling in various countries, in the 1960s, Italy had many fashion houses and fashion magazines but was in dire need of models. Italian agencies would often coerce models to return to Italy without work visas by withholding their pay and they would also pay their models in cash, which models would have to hide from customs agents. It was not uncommon for models staying in such as La Louisiana in Paris or the Arena in Milan to have their hotel rooms raided by the police looking for their work visas
3.
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show
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The Victorias Secret Fashion Show is an annual show sponsored by and featuring Victorias Secret, a brand of lingerie and sleepwear. Victorias Secret uses the show to promote and market its goods in high-profile settings, the show features some of the worlds leading fashion models such as current Victorias Secret Angels Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Behati Prinsloo, Candice Swanepoel, and Lily Aldridge. American network television broadcasts the show during prime time, the first few shows in the 1990s were held in the days preceding Valentines Day to promote the brand for this holiday. They were not aired on national television, in 1999 and 2000 the show was webcast. Beginning in 2001, the shows were moved ahead of the Christmas holiday season, also in 2001, the show made its network television broadcast on ABC, though in all subsequent years, it has been broadcast on CBS. The show has held at a variety of locations in different cities including Miami, Los Angeles, Cannes, Paris. The first four shows were held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, the show is a lavish event with elaborate costumed lingerie, varying music by leading entertainers, and set design according to the different themes running within the show. The show attracts hundreds of celebrities and entertainers, with special performers, each year, twenty to forty of the worlds top fashion models are selected to perform in the fashion show. In a typical year, this includes about a dozen women under contract to the company, known as Victorias Secret Angels. The giant angel wings worn by the models, as well as wings of various forms and sizes such as butterfly, peacock. The first fashion show extravaganza, introduced by Stephanie Seymour, was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City in August 1996, the show also featured Beverly Peele and Frederique van der Wal. She actually did ring the bell at the NYSE as part of the publicity campaign. The subsequent three annual shows were held at the Plaza. The show, which was aired by Broadcast. com, featured Tyra Banks, Laetitia Casta, Heidi Klum, Karen Mulder, Daniela Pestova, Inés Rivero, and Seymour.5 million. In 2001, the show, which was hosted by Rupert Everett, returned to the New York City, the show has continued to be broadcast on network television every year since. From 2002 through 2005, it was held at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City, the 2006 and 2007 shows were held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. On November 13,2007, the Victorias Secret Angels were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame right outside the Kodak Theatre, the other models, who also appeared in that years fashion show, were in attendance that day. The 2008 show coincided with the grand re-opening of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel, in 2006, Victorias Secret sub-brand PINK made its debut on the runway
4.
Charlotte, North Carolina
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Charlotte /ˈʃɑːrlət/ is the largest city in the state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Mecklenburg County and the second-largest city in the southeastern United States, just behind Jacksonville, Charlotte is the third-fastest growing major city in the United States. In 2014 the estimated population of Charlotte according to the U. S. Census Bureau was 809,958, the Charlotte metropolitan area ranks 22nd-largest in the U. S. and had a 2014 population of 2,380,314. The Charlotte metropolitan area is part of a sixteen-county market region or combined statistical area with a 2014 U. S. Census population estimate of 2,537,990, residents of Charlotte are referred to as Charlotteans. It is listed as a global city by the Globalization. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is an international hub, and was ranked the 23rd-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic in 2013. Charlotte has a subtropical climate. The city is located several miles east of the Catawba River and southeast of Lake Norman, Lake Wylie and Mountain Island Lake are two smaller man-made lakes located near the city. The Catawba Native Americans were the first to settle Mecklenburg County and were first recorded in European records around 1567, by 1759 half the Catawba tribe had been killed by smallpox. At the time of their largest population, Catawba people numbered 10,000, Mecklenburg County was initially part of Bath County of New Hanover Precinct, which became New Hanover County in 1729. The western portion of New Hanover split into Bladen County in 1734, Mecklenburg County formed from Anson County in 1762. Further apportionment was made in 1792, with Cabarrus County formed from Mecklenburg and these areas were all part of one of the original six judicial/military districts of North Carolina known as the Salisbury District. The area that is now Charlotte was settled by people of European descent around 1755, Thomas Polk, who later married Thomas Spratts daughter, built his house by the intersection of two Native American trading paths between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers. One path ran north–south and was part of the Great Wagon Road, within decades of Polks settling, the area grew to become Charlotte Town, incorporating in 1768. The crossroads, perched atop the Piedmont landscape, became the heart of Uptown Charlotte, in 1770, surveyors marked the streets in a grid pattern for future development. The east–west trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road became Tryon Street, in honor of William Tryon, the intersection of Trade and Tryon—commonly known today as Trade & Tryon, or simply The Square—is more properly called Independence Square. While surveying the boundary between the Carolinas in 1772, William Moultrie stopped in Charlotte Town, whose five or six houses were very ordinary built of logs, local leaders came together in 1775 and signed the Mecklenburg Resolves, more popularly known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. While not a declaration of independence from British rule, it is among the first such declarations that eventually led to the American Revolution
5.
Issey Miyake
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Issey Miyake is a Japanese fashion designer. He is known for his clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances, such as Leau dIssey. Miyake was born on April 22,1938 in Hiroshima, Japan and he studied graphic design at the Tama Art University in Tokyo, graduating in 1964. After graduation, he worked in Paris and New York City, returning to Tokyo in 1970, he founded the Miyake Design Studio, a high-end producer of womens fashion. In the late 1980s, he began to experiment with new methods of pleating that would allow both flexibility of movement for the wearer as well as ease of care and production. In which the garments are cut and sewn first, then sandwiched between layers of paper and fed into a press, where they are pleated. The fabrics memory holds the pleats and when the garments are liberated from their paper cocoon and he did the costume for Ballett Frankfurt with pleats in a piece named the Loss of Small Detail William Forsythe and also work on ballet Garden in the setting. He had a friendship with Austrian-born pottery artist Dame Lucie Rie. She bequeathed to him her substantial collection of ceramic and porcelain buttons and he also developed a friendship with Apples Steve Jobs and produced the black turtlenecks which would become a part of Jobs signature attire. Jobs said, So I asked Issey to make me some of his black turtlenecks that I liked, in March 1992 he was quoted in the International Herald Tribune as saying Design is not for philosophy—its for life. In 1994 and 1999, Miyake turned over the design of the mens and womens collections respectively, to his associate, Naoki Takizawa, so that he could return to research full-time. In 2007, Naoki Takizawa opened his own brand supported by the Issey Miyake Group and was replaced as Creative Director by Dai Fujiwara who ran the House of Issey Miyake until 2012. The design duties were split as of the Spring/Summer 2012 collections, with Yoshiyuki Miyamae appointed head designer of the womens collection, as of 2012, he is one of the co-Directors of 2121 DESIGN SIGHT, Japans first design museum. HaaT means village market in Sanskrit, the sound similar to heart in English A-POC - 1998- custom-collection for men and women. Tubes of fabric are machine-processed and can be cut into shapes by the consumer. A-POC is an acronym of a piece of cloth, and a homonym of epoch. Issey Miyake - an evolution of the A-POC concept, works are presented as two-dimensional geometric shapes made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate mixed with natural fibers and dyes, which then unfold into structured garments. Me Issey Miyake - line of exclusive one-sized shirts that stretch to fit the wearer that are sold in plastic tube, Bao Bao Issey Miyake - line of bags Issey Miyake Watches - mens and womens watches Issey Miyake Perfumes - line of fragrances for men and women
6.
Harper's Bazaar
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Harpers Bazaar is an American womens fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harpers Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the resource for women who are the first to buy the best. Writers Alice Meynell, Daisy Fellowes, Gloria Guinness, and Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd, when Harpers Bazaar began publication, it was a weekly magazine catering to women in the middle and upper classes. It showcased fashion from Germany and Paris in a newspaper-design format and it was not until 1901 that Harpers moved to a monthly issued magazine which it maintains today. Now Harpers Bazaar is owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation in the U. S. harper & Brothers founded the magazine. This company also gave birth to Harpers Magazine and HarperCollins Publishing, glenda Bailey is the editor-in-chief of U. S. edition of Harpers Bazaar. As the turn-of-the-century began in America, Harpers Bazaar began featuring both illustrations and photographs for its covers and inside features of society and increasingly of fashion. During the late Victorian period, as the suffrage movement was gaining momentum. Bazaar also began profiling prominent socialites, such as the Astors, in 1933, editor-in-chief Carmel Snow brought photojournalist Martin Munkacsi to a windswept beach to shoot a swimwear spread. As the model ran toward the camera, Munkacsi took the picture that made fashion-magazine history, until that moment, nearly all fashion was carefully staged on mannequin-like models in a studio. Snows buoyant spirit and wicked sense of adventure brought life to the pages of Bazaar, Snows genius came from cultivating the best people. Her first big find was art director Alexey Brodovitch, who innovated Bazaars iconic Didot logo, Snow also unleashed the force of nature known as Diana Vreeland, whom she brought on as fashion editor in 1936. The collaboration of these four visionaries resulted in some of the germane fashion shoots of the 20th century and ended only with Snows retirement, at the age of 70, throughout his career at the magazine, Brodovitch, a Russian émigré, revolutionized magazine design. With his directive Astonish me, he inspired some of the greatest visual artists of the 20th century, one of his assistants was future Rolling Stone art director Tony Lane. Sadly, Brodovitchs personal life was less triumphant, plagued by alcoholism, he left Bazaar in 1958 and eventually moved to the south of France, where he died in 1971. Diana, who is said to have invented the word pizzazz, before long, she became fashion editor, collaborating with photographers Louise Dahl-Wolfe and Richard Avedon and, later, art director Henry Wolf. Her eccentricity, perception and wit, as well as her sharp wit and sweeping pronouncements, were memorialized in the movie Funny Face, making her, for many, Richard Avedon began creating fashion portfolios for Harpers Bazaar at the age of 22. His distinctive photographs showed both chic insouciance and boundless vitality, avedons women leapt off curbs, roller-skated on the Place de la Concorde, and were seen in nightclubs, enjoying the freedom and fashions of the postwar era
7.
Chanel
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Chanel S. A. is a French, privately held company owned by Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, grandsons of Pierre Wertheimer, who was an early business partner of the couturière Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. Chanel S. A. is a fashion house that specializes in haute couture and ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods. In her youth, Gabrielle Chanel gained the nickname Coco from her time as a chanteuse, the House of Chanel is known for the little black dress, the perfume No.5 de Chanel, and the Chanel Suit. Chanel’s use of jersey fabric produced garments that were comfortable and affordable, Chanel used colors traditionally associated with masculinity in Europe, such as grey and navy blue, to denote feminine boldness of character. An example of haute couture techniques is the woolen Chanel suit — a knee-length skirt. The complementary accessories were two-tone pump shoes and jewellry, usually a necklace of pearls, Coco Chanel thus could sell to them the hats she designed and made, she thus earned a living, independent of her financial sponsor, the socialite Balsan. Despite that social circumstance, Boy Capel perceived the businesswoman innate to Coco Chanel, because that locale already housed a dress shop, the business-lease limited Chanel to selling only millinery products, not couture. The First World War affected European fashion through scarcity of materials, in 1915 and in 1917, Harper’s Bazaar magazine reported that the garments of the House of Chanel were on the list of every buyer for the clothing factories of Europe. After the First World War, the House of Chanel, following the trends of the 1920s, produced beaded dresses. Originally, a bottle of No.5 de Chanel was a gift to clients of Chanel, the popularity of the perfume prompted the House of Chanel to offer it for retail sale in 1922. In 1923, to explain the success of her clothes, Coco Chanel told Harper’s Bazaar magazine that design simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance, business partners — late 1920s The success of the No. To that end, the businessman Théophile Bader introduced the venture capitalist Pierre Wertheimer to Coco Chanel, moreover, by 1937, the House of Chanel had expanded the range of its clothes to more women, and presented prêt-à-porter clothes designed and cut for the petite woman. Among fashion designers only the clothes created by Elsa Schiaparelli could compete with the clothes of Chanel. A. at 31 rue Cambon, meanwhile, because of the Nazi occupation’s official anti-Semitism, Pierre Wertheimer and family, had fled France to the U. S. in mid-1940. Later, in 1941, Coco Chanel attempted to assume control of Parfums Chanel. Occupied France abounded with rumours that Coco Chanel was a Nazi collaborator, her identity was secret agent 7124 of the Abwehr. At War’s end, upon the Allied liberation of France, Chanel was arrested for having collaborated with the Nazis, in Switzerland, the news revived Coco Chanel’s resentment at having been exploited by her business partner, for only ten per cent of the money. So she established a rival Swiss parfumerie to create, produce, in exchange Gabrielle Chanel closed her Swiss parfumerie enterprise, and sold to Parfums Chanel the full rights to the name Coco Chanel. As a post–War fashion that used some 20 yards of fabric, having decided to do business with Coco Chanel, Wertheimer’s negotiations to fund the resurgence of the House of Chanel, granted him commercial rights to all Chanel-brand products
8.
Louis Vuitton
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Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton, or shortened to LV, is a house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The labels LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, sunglasses, for six consecutive years, Louis Vuitton was named the worlds most valuable luxury brand. Its 2012 valuation was US$25.9 billion, the 2013 valuation of the brand was US$28.4 billion with revenue of US$9.4 billion. The company operates in 50 countries with more than 460 stores worldwide, the Louis Vuitton label was founded by Vuitton in 1854 on Rue Neuve des Capucines in Paris, France. Louis Vuitton had observed that the HJ Cave Osilite trunk could be stacked and in 1858, Vuitton introduced his flat-bottom trunks with trianon canvas. Before the introduction of Vuittons trunks, rounded-top trunks were used, generally to promote water run off and it was Vuittons gray Trianon canvas flat trunk that allowed the ability to stack with ease for voyages. Many other luggagemakers imitated LVs style and design, the company participated in the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris. To protect against the duplication of his look, Vuitton changed the Trianon design to a beige, by 1885, the company opened its first store in London on Oxford Street. In 1892, Louis Vuitton died, and the management passed to his son. After the death of his father, Georges Vuitton began a campaign to build the company into a worldwide corporation, in 1896, the company launched the signature Monogram Canvas and made the worldwide patents on it. Its graphic symbols, including quatrefoils and flowers, were based on the trend of using Japanese Mon designs in the late Victorian era, the patents later proved to be successful in stopping counterfeiting. In this same year, Georges traveled to the United States, where he toured cities such as New York, Philadelphia, in 1901, the Louis Vuitton Company introduced the Steamer Bag, a smaller piece of luggage designed to be kept inside Vuitton luggage trunks. By 1913, the Louis Vuitton Building opened on the Champs-Elysees and it was the largest travel-goods store in the world at the time. Stores also opened in New York, Bombay, Washington, London, Alexandria, afterwards, in 1930, the Keepall bag was introduced. During 1932, LV introduced the Noé bag and this bag was originally made for champagne vintners to transport bottles. Soon thereafter, the Louis Vuitton Speedy bag was introduced, in 1936 Georges Vuitton died, and his son, Gaston-Louis Vuitton, assumed control of the company. During World War II, Louis Vuitton collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation of France, the family set up a factory dedicated to producing artifacts glorifying Pétain, including more than 2,500 busts. Caroline Babulle, a spokeswoman for the publisher, Fayard, said, They have not contested anything in the book, responding to the books release in 2004, a spokesman for LVMH said, This is ancient history
9.
Prada
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Prada S. p. A. is an Italian luxury fashion house, specializing in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, perfumes and other fashion accessories, founded in 1913 by Mario Prada. The company was started in 1913 by Mario Prada and his brother Martino as a goods shop – Fratelli Prada – in Milan. Initially, the shop sold leather goods and imported English steamer trunks, Mario Prada did not believe that women should have a role in business, and so he prevented female family members from entering into his company. Ironically, Marios son harbored no interest in the business, so it was his daughter Luisa Prada who took the helm of Prada as his successor and her own daughter, Miuccia Prada, joined the company in 1970, eventually taking over for her mother in 1978. Miuccia began making waterproof backpacks out of Pocone and she met Patrizio Bertelli in 1977, an Italian who had begun his own leather goods business at the age of 17, and he joined the company soon after. He advised Miuccia—and she followed the advice—on better decisions for the Prada company and it was his advice to discontinue importing English goods and to change the existing luggage. Miuccia inherited the company in 1978 by which time sales were up to U. S. $450,000, with Bertelli alongside her as business manager, Miuccia was allowed time to implement her creativity in the companys designs. She would go on to incorporate her ideas into the house of Prada that would change it and she released her first set of backpacks and totes in 1979. They were made out of a tough military spec black nylon that her grandfather had used as coverings for steamer trunks. Initial success was not instant, as they were hard to sell due to the lack of advertising and high-prices, next, Miuccia and Bertelli sought out wholesale accounts for the bags in upscale department stores and boutiques worldwide. The next big release was a nylon tote and that same year, the house of Prada began expansion across continental Europe by opening locations in prominent shopping districts within Florence, Paris, Madrid, and New York City. A shoe line was released in 1984. In 1985, Miuccia released the classic Prada handbag that became an overnight sensation, although practical and sturdy, its sleek lines and craftsmanship exuded an offhand aura of luxury that has become the Prada signature. In 1987, Miuccia and Bertelli married, Prada launched its womens ready-to-wear collection in 1989, and the designs came to be known for their dropped waistlines and narrow belts. Pradas popularity skyrocketed when the world took notice of its clean lines, opulent fabrics. The logo for the label was not as obvious a design element as those on bags from other prominent luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and it tried to market its lack of prestigious appeal, including the apparel, was its image of anti-status or reverse snobbery. Pradas originality made it one of the most influential fashion houses, sales were reported at L70 billion, or US$31.7 million, in 1998. Partrizio di Marco took charge of the business in the United States after working for the house in Asia
10.
Ralph Lauren
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Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and business executive, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has also become known for his collection of rare automobiles. Lauren stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of the company in September 2015 but remains its Executive Chairman, as of October 2016, Forbes estimates his wealth at $5.5 billion, which makes Ralph Lauren the 233rd richest person in the world. Ralph Lauren was born in The Bronx, New York City, to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, Frieda and Frank Lifshitz and he is the youngest of four siblings – two brothers and one sister. Lauren attended day school followed by MTA, before graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1957. He grew up playing basketball and baseball and he wanted to be Joe DiMaggio, and then he wanted to be a movie star. Lauren constantly draws inspiration from his heroes including Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and he went to Baruch College, at the City University of New York where he studied business, although he dropped out after two years. From 1962 to 1964 he served in the United States Army, the Ralph Lauren Corporation started in 1967 with men’s ties. At 28 years-old, Lauren worked for the tie manufacturer Beau Brummell, drawing on his interests in sports, Ralph Lauren named his first full line of menswear ‘Polo’ in 1968. He worked out of a drawer from a showroom in the Empire State Building. By 1969, the Manhattan department store Bloomingdales sold Lauren’s men line exclusively and it was the first time that Bloomingdale’s had given a designer their own in-store boutique. In 1971, Ralph Lauren Corporation launched a line of tailored shirts for women, the first full women’s collection was launched the following year. 1971 also marked the opening of Ralph Lauren’s store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and this is the first freestanding store for an American designer. In 1972 the Ralph Lauren Corporation introduced a signature cotton mesh Polo shirt in various colors, featuring the polo player logo at the chest, the shirt became emblematic of the preppy look—one of Ralph Laurens signature styles. The tag line for the ad campaign was, Every team has its color -- Polo has seventeen, in 1977, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen wore Lauren’s clothes throughout their Oscar-winning film, Annie Hall. The first Ralph Lauren fragrances, produced by Warner-Lauren, Ltd. were launched at Bloomingdales in March 1978, Lauren, a fragrance for women, on March 12 and Polo, cologne for men, on March 26. This was the first time that a designer has introduced two fragrances – one for men and one for women – simultaneously, Ralph Lauren opens his first flagship in the Rhinelander mansion, on Madison Avenue and 72nd Street in New York City in 1986. Lauren re-creates the buildings original opulence with a design consultant named Naomi Leff
11.
Giorgio Armani
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Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines and he is credited with pioneering red-carpet fashion. Whilst at secondary school at the Liceo Scientifico Respighi in Piacenza, Armani aspired to a career in medicine and he enrolled in the Department of Medicine at the University of Milan, but after three years, in 1953, he left and joined the army. Due to his background, he was assigned to the Military Hospital in Verona. He eventually decided to look for a different career path, after his stint in the armed forces, Armani found a job as a window dresser at La Rinascente, a department store in Milan in 1957. He went on to become a seller for the menswear department, in the mid-1960s, Armani moved to the Nino Cerruti company, for which he designed menswear. His skills were in demand, and for the decade, while continuing to work for Cerutti, Armani also freelanced. In the late 1960s, Armani met Sergio Galeotti, an architectural draftsman, in 1973, Galeotti persuaded him to open a design office in Milan, at 37 Corso Venezia. The international press was quick to acknowledge Armanis importance following the shows at the Sala Bianca in the Pitti Palace in Florence. The experience provided Armani with an opportunity to develop his own style in new ways. He was now ready to devote his energy to his own label, in October of that same year, he presented his first collection of mens ready-to-wear for Spring and Summer 1976 under his own name. He also produced a line for the same season. In 1979, after founding the Giorgio Armani Corporation, Armani began producing for the United States, the label became one of the leading names in international fashion with the introduction of several new product lines, including G. A. Le Collezioni, Giorgio Armani Underwear and Swimwear, and Giorgio Armani Accessories, a new store was opened in Milan for the Emporio line, followed by the first Giorgio Armani boutique. Armanis concern for the end user culminated in the development of a more youthful product with the level of stylistic quality as his high-end line. Because of the nature of the Emporio line, Armani felt that he had to make use of new. These included television spots and enormous street ads, together with a magazine that was sent out by mail to consumers. Armani also felt that a relationship with the cinema was essential and he designed the costumes for American Gigolo, the success of which led to a long-term collaboration with the world of film
12.
Hugo Boss
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Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a German luxury fashion house. It was founded in 1924 by Hugo Boss and is headquartered in Metzingen, originally focusing on uniforms, it was a supplier for Nazi Party organizations both before and during World War II. After the war and the death in 1948, Hugo Boss started to turn its focus from uniforms to mens suits. In 1924, Hugo Boss started a company in Metzingen, a small town south of Stuttgart. Due to the climate of Germany at the time, Boss was forced into bankruptcy. In 1931, he reached an agreement with his creditors, leaving him with six sewing machines to start again and that same year, he became a member of the Nazi Party and a sponsoring member of the Schutzstaffel. He also joined the German Labour Front in 1936, the Reich Air Protection Association in 1939, after joining these organizations, his sales increased from 38,260 RM to over 3,300,000 RM in 1941. His profits also increased in the time period from 5,000 RM to 241,000 RM. Though he claimed in a 1934–35 advertisement that he had been a supplier for National Socialist uniforms since 1924 and this is the year he became a Reichszeugmeisterei-licensed supplier of uniforms to the Sturmabteilung, Schutzstaffel, Hitler Youth, National Socialist Motor Corps, and other party organizations. For production in years of the war, Hugo Boss used prisoners of war and forced labourers, from the Baltic States, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia. According to German historian Henning Kober, the managers were fervent Nazis who were all great admirers of Adolf Hitler. In 1945 Hugo Boss had a photograph in his apartment of him with Hitler, in a 1946 judgment he was stripped of his voting rights, his capacity to run a business, and fined a very heavy penalty of 100,000 DM. He died in 1948, but his business survived, as a result of the ban on Boss being in business, his son-in-law Eugen Holy took over ownership and running of the company. In 1950, after a period supplying work uniforms, the received its first order for mens suits. By 1960 the company was producing ready made suits, in 1969, Eugen retired, leaving the company to his sons Jochen and Uwe, who began international development. In 1970, the first Boss branded suits were produced, with the brand becoming a registered trademark in 1977 and this was followed by the start of the companys long association with motorsport, sponsoring Formula One driver Niki Lauda, and later the McLaren Racing team. In 1984, the first Boss branded fragrance appeared and this helped the company gain the required growth for listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange the following year. The brand entered the world of golf by sponsoring Bernhard Langer in 1986, in 1989, Boss launched its first licensed sunglasses
