Minimalism and Fashion

Chapter II: Minimalism’s Effect on the Fashion Industry

Although clothing serves a functional purpose, in that it's used to protect the body from the elements, it is not a value-neutral commodity. Clothes also serve as a form of non-verbal communication that can be used to express personal attractiveness, status or modesty (Dagmar, 2009). Indeed in medieval society clothing was used by the aristocracy as a means to differentiate itself from the common elements of the population. In this way, fashion was introduced. Fashion serves as a means of self-representation. This intersection of self-portrayal and communication has attracted the interest of a number of scholarly works on the subject.

However, fashion has still not formulated a theoretical perspective that explicates how the interaction between fashion and self-representation functions. The lack of such context means that fashion designers must rely on their own individual sensibilities to make sense of the significance of clothing (Dagmar, 2009). One such sensibility can be expressed in the notion of a minimalist aesthetic in fashion.

Minimalism is often hailed as a return to simplicity. However, it's leading proponents to consider it much more than that. Indeed, Costa (2010) argues that minimalism is focused on perfecting balance. It's also about coupling together shapes, colors, garments, and proportions into a harmonious unit.

For Costa, the influence of minimalist art on fashion can be traced back to such art movements as Art Moderne, Dadaism or anti-art, Bauhaus and Italian Futurism. As such, the trend toward minimalism in fashion was only part of a larger shift in cultural and artistic sensibility away from labored complexity and toward a more forwarding perspective on self-representation (Costa, 2010). Indeed, Dadaism was itself a reaction against the extravagance of expression inherent in post-impressionist painting. Its forms could be a photograph of a broom or a bicycle wheel, to which nothing particularly remarkable was done.

Minimalism reached its peak during the 1960s and has since continued to make valuable contributions to contemporary fashion aesthetics. The movement's earliest adherents used the vagueness provided by three-dimensional forms, and familiar geometric shapes, to create pieces that diverged remarkably from the sculpted or painted models that preceded them (Dinant, 2010). Minimalism has since developed to incorporate an artistic category, a well-developed lifestyle, and a passing sensibility in the fields of art, architecture, interior design and men's and women's fashion. Minimalism's growth from a high-art movement of the 1960s into an ongoing movement in the popular culture, with considerable staying power, is due to its forays into the fashion world. That is, many fashion designers, saw an equivalence between abstract and reductionist self-expression with progress and beauty (Dinant, 2010). Thus, it's the world of fashion, situated between the practical and the aesthetic, that adapts the principals of minimalist art. Fashion promotes the legacies of minimalist theory in both the avant-garde movement and in a commodity culture with its ready-made items.

Minimalist Theory Overview

Minimalism indicates an existence affirming orientation towards a basic ontological measurement. That is, minimum refers to the lowest degree or amount possible of something (Botha, 2011). It carries such characteristics as that which is small, simple or direct. Minimalism is used not just in the fashion or art worlds, but in many other areas of study, such as philosophy, computer programming, sociology, linguistics, systems design, and law among others. In each of these fields, minimalism is used to designate that which has simple, basic and direct characteristics of the content under consideration. Indeed, as society continues to become ever more complex and sophisticated, minimalism may always play a role as a crucial philosophical counterweight.

As such, minimalism is likely not limited to any one particular era or trend in time. It's therefore in a much broader sense, a reference to more than just an aesthetic movement in the fields of art, architecture or fashion (Botha, 2011). This is stated only to situate minimalism, from a philosophical perspective, within a much broader theoretical context. A discussion of all the permutations of the subject of minimalism is far beyond the scope of this paper. However, in purely aesthetic terms, Botha (2011) defines the subject in terms of canonical minimalism and involves works of art, fashion, and architecture, produced from about the mid-1950s forward. But this a loose definition of minimalism which, as will be shown in chapter 3, dates back to at least the 1920s.

Indeed, minimalism is often applied to particular US artists of the post-World War II era whose work is characterized by an affinity for the austere, direct and abstract. Such artists include John Perreault, Clement Greenberg, Gregory Battcock, and Barbara Rose (Botha, 2011). Indeed, Perreault argued that what makes art minimal is the means of production rather than its end (Botha, 2011). Other researchers argue that minimalism does not refer to an artistic tradition so much as to a historical moment (Botha, 2011). That is a short period of critical assessment, invention and innovation among the multiple currents of post-World War II art.

Moreover, in minimalism is found an ancient, and at times disturbing, the ancestry of an austere quality. This austerity might be chosen by the individual or imposed upon him or her by external authorities (Botha, 2011). This austerity can manifest itself in spiritual, psychological, materialistic or environmental formats. Some examples of these formats or contexts include a devotion to monastic life, the artist's sense of isolation and melancholy, and the life of incarceration of a convicted felon. Each of these contexts shares the characteristic that a life that involves various features of self-denial, solitude, self-discipline, and simplicity, have a transformative power (Botha, 2011).

A number of examples bare out this transformativeness. For instance, there is what is known as the 'epiphany of the unattainable,' which acts as a form of inspiration to the artist toiling in melancholy (Botha, 2011). In connection with this melancholia is the quietude and solitariness which is needed to build a perfect bond with divine love. This quietude is sought for in the monastic tradition, which pursues a simple, uncluttered existence. However, this mode of living reveals rationality that is, at the same time, supportive and hostile. That is to say, the disruption of one aspect leads to the prominence of the other.

Another example is the strict ideals expressed in the Rules of St. Benedict. The purpose of sleep is to allow the monk to awake to God's work (Botha, 2011). This work promises transcendence by way of a minimalist austerity. Art often isn't so optimistic. Thus mild deprivation of sleep is a way for the monk to achieve sanctification. However, it also provides a reminder that life offers a painful irremissibility for a poet steeped in melancholia. Emily Bronte's appealing desperation, where she proclaims that sleep brings her no joy, settles exactly on the view that sleep does not provide a chance for transcendence or sanctification (Botha, 2011). This prompts the desire to be released from memory's worsening gloominess. It's a state of mind that can only be absolved by the forgetfulness death brings.

At the same time, a drive towards a holy simplicity, it can be argued, is what prompted the cataphatic surrender to 'Sister Bodily Death" of Saint Francis. This embrace was expressed in the "Canticle of Brother Sun" published in the early 13th century (Botha, 2011). It also epitomizes austere ruminations such as the skull being used as death's symbol and also in the work of El Greco, whose painting of Saint Francis Praying, is an understated subversion of the vanitas work (Botha, 2011). If one considers the beginning of Beckett's work "For to end yet again," once realizes a conception which fits in the contemporary minimalist tradition in the starkness of its presentation.

The skull is also a sign of minimal existential intensity as seen from an anthropocentric viewpoint. This makes it a moving sign of the aesthetic rationality in containment terms (Botha, 2011). The skull provides an enclosure for the body's main sensory organs, including the seat of human consciousness in the brain. It thus seems fitting that the skull should serve as a type of minimalistic icon in a number of contexts. These contexts include both the cave of the hermit and the prose of Beckett. In the latter case, the skull is always the sign of the threshold in which the mind is unable to end itself. The skull elucidates both the barrenness of the hermit's abode, from where transcendental liberty is found and the prison cell, which involuntarily holds its occupants making similar exceedance unlikely.

What Botha calls the canonical minimalist style became prominent in American culture, despite the gradual and somewhat reluctant disregarding of large scale societal obedience demanded during the First and Second World Wars. After World War II, the US experienced tremendous economic growth and prosperity during the 1950s and 60s and emerged as the leading capitalist industrial state. This profound economic power yielded an increased sense of culturally based confidence as well (Botha, 2011). Despite its rejection of the extravagance that such economic power might stimulate, minimalism emerged as a field of artistic expression.

Yves Saint Laurent

According to some research, Courreges was the architect of minimalist, futuristic fashion and Saint Laurent was its artist. Saint Laurent was the chief designer at Dior where he introduced the 'trapeze line' in 1958 (Dinant, 2010). The line is distinguished for its collection of trapezoid shapes. It was harmonious with both the late period Balenciaga and with pioneering new innovations being introduced by both Courreges and Cardin. The designer's dresses presaged renewed life for daywear. His dresses also introduced a higher hemline into women's fashion.

In contrast to his later work, Saint Laurent's 1960 collection for Dior was modeled after the Parisian Left Bank bohemian community style. This look was characterized by knitted polo necks, leather-skin jackets, crocodile skin jackets with collars made of fur, and fur coats made with knitted sleeves. The collection predominantly consisted of dismal colors and were all separates (Dinant, 2010). Unfortunately for Saint Laurent his promotion of this style got him fired at Dior.

By 1962, Saint Laurent had moved on to start his own fashion studio. However, he continued to promote a seemingly unmarketable and even deviant approach to fashion (Dinant, 2010). He dedicated a collection of trousers to the 1968 French student protestors. He was fascinated by youthful rebellion and expressed his views in his designs. His signature achievements were Le Smoking and the trouser suit. Nevertheless, his sheer blouse with a safari outfit along with the trench coat that was belted over trousers rose to become his iconic contributions.

Saint Laurent's exploration of minimalism went on to become the most obvious and easily recognizable example of the intersection between art and fashion. This is partly exemplified in the designer's famous Mondrian dress (Dinant, 2010). This outfit is described as small with a high waist, flexible and bi-colored. The dress reflected Cardin's square-shaped tunics but had a somewhat greater length. This length meant it could be classified as reputable daywear and didn't require a bodysuit, thick tights or special trousers as Courreges garments did.

Saint Lourent was a developer of minimalist fashion and used garments that were streamlined elegantly. They could be worn for any type of social event and at the same time portrayed a strong and confident representation (Dinant, 2010). Saint Lourent was also one of the first designers to understand the visual capabilities of each level of a garment. Indeed, the flat, bare lines of a shift dress were an ideal surface with which to represent Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian's geometric abstracts and concept generalizability.

Mondrian was a member of the De Stijl school which was established in 1917. The guiding principle of the school was to represent purity in as basic a manner as possible. The De Stijl was a branch of the Bauhaus artistic school, which promoted harmony and rationality using asymmetry and clean lines (Dinant, 2010). The school also used block colors, geometric forms, and angles in its work.

De Stijl painters' work was an influence on architecture and home furnishings. Their work also promoted a chosen lifestyle. This lifestyle was somewhat similar to that advocated by Courreges and Cardin. It held that one aesthetic could be the sole motivator behind a design in which all of its ingredients would be angular, clean and ergonomic (Dinant, 2010). Cardin's nurses' uniforms, designed in the late 1960s, were modeled on this approach as seen in his Cosmos collection with its all-white fabrics.

The Mondrian shift dress collection promoted the De Stijl school's concept of a lifestyle-focused design principle. It did so by demonstrating this concept to share both an appealing aesthetic and a useful functionality (Dinant, 2010). It also demonstrated that achieving simple designs involved a difficult process. The garment's complexity is misleading due to its immature visuals. That is, the shaping and structural seams are hidden underneath a rectangular grid. Then, each color block is a jersey panel that was separately inserted. The wearer's body is contained in a manner that doesn't weaken either the angular nature of the garment's visual structure or the wearer's freedom of movement. Saint Laurent had reformulated the wearer's body as a type of artwork, that lived and breathed.

The Mondrian collection has been called the first official occurrence of minimalism in fashion. All of the prior examples of fashion minimalism have involved simplifying everyday wear due to cultural, social or practical considerations (Dinant, 2010). The idea in this collection was to produce a piece of clothing that expressed the principles of a specific art school. This introduction of an idea, rather than simple marketing or architectural considerations, proved to be an important phase in the history of minimalism in fashion. This collection also remains a crucial demarcation point at which the different conceptions of a reductivism approach can be differentiated (Dinant, 2010).

Not all designers are pleased to see their work considered as works of art. That is, fashion designers have a different conception of the utility of their work. They conceive of their fashion designs as something vital and to be interacted with (Dinant, 2010). In contrast, most works of art are not usually conceived in such a way, at least in the Western tradition of art. Nevertheless, Saint Lourent's exploration of Mondrian's art has made a crucial contribution to the discourse on fashion and art.

Chapter III

Coco Chanel's influence on women's fashion has to be understood in terms of the larger cultural circumstances affecting women at the time. Both before and during World War I, women's fashion was typically very structured and much more complicated (George, 2011). During this era, the ideal woman was smooth and sinuous. The garments reflected this by simplifying the condensed structural lines and rich ornamentation that characterized women's fashion during the Victorian period. For Chanel, this reduced structured appearance was the hallmark of real fashion (George, 2011). Chanel's designs were predicated on the notion that most women didn't like extremely tight-fitting clothes. Instead, most women wanted a style that found a balance between simple designs and chic fashion wear. Chanel's sporty look for women eventually became the standard look for women's garments.

In terms of larger cultural ferments, Chanel also embraced the concept of the 'modern woman.' This concept became common during World War I and is characterized by a more masculinized approach to women's fashion (George, 2011). She also created and popularized what became somewhat derisively known as the 'poor look.' The benefit of such a style is that allowed women in lower-income brackets to dress fashionably, yet affordably. It appears that despite its popularity, many men didn't want this particular clothing style. Yet women of the period preferred a neutral approach to clothing that toned down the use of color (George, 2011). The changes in women's fashion, and the introduction of the modern woman, were influenced by the increased number of women in the workforce as a result of the need for labor induced by World War I. Due to the nature of the work many women performed, the use of elaborate clothing, accessories and even jewelry was thought to be impractical. Instead, women wanted a more minimalist style of dress that suited everyday life. The style, introduced during World War I, retained considerable popularity after the war ended. Women were especially fond of the convenience and simplicity the more minimal style afforded (George, 2011). According to fashion historians, Chanel sensed the cultural shift and tailored her fashion line accordingly.

Chanel's innovations involved abandoning the waistline and reducing skirt length above the ankle. This style helped to also reduce the difference in gender roles, and thus of gender-based differentials in power between the sexes (George, 2011). The reduced curvaceousness of the minimal style meant that specific feminine body areas were not emphasized. The new style also conferred a sense of physical freedom in their clothing and thus represented a kind of visual representation of women's emancipation (George, 2011). Chanel's garments also advanced the notion that women had a strong preference for the clothes they wore while performing usually male occupations. These occupations were undertaken out of necessity for the war effort. Thus Chanel's fashion not only signified a shift in women's fashion, but also of deeper changes in gender roles in the whole of society (George, 2011). Moreover, Chanel's sporty or boyish style epitomized the new woman of the 1920s. It should be noted that similar fashion shifts occurred during and after World War II as well.

There seemed to be a broader counter-reaction against Chanel's minimalist style during the 1950s. After the end of World War II, women were expected to return to their predefined societal roles as wives and mothers (George, 2011). In the 1950s, there was tremendous social pressure for women to conform to prevailing gender roles and women who refused were considered both bad wives and bad mothers.

A fashion industry-specific shift occurred in the 1950s. During this time men returned to dominance as the main designers of women's fashion after a two-decade period in which women were the predominant influence in fashion. The male designers included Balenciaga, Fath, Piguet, Rochas, and the most well known of them, Christian Dior. These designers were purveyors of a fashion style known as the 'New Look'. These designers looked back to pre-First World War fashion styles as models for designing their own new pieces. The look favored by these designers was replete with exaggerated, geometric forms and asymmetric and stylized bodily directions (George, 2011). Dior, in particular, suited women in restrictive outfits which featured stiff bodices and waist constriction.

When Chanel introduced her 1954 fashion line, she did so using the same principles that informed her work in the 1920s. Figures 1 and 2 are examples of Chanel's work from two separate periods in her career. The first is from the 1920s and the second, from the 1950s. Her new line was characterized by many critics as tacky (George, 2011).

Nevertheless, her new fashion line resonated with many American women. These women bought her new clothes in significant quantities (George, 2011). According to fashion historians, American women found Chanel's 1950s line to have timeless modernity and appeal. Her work was also the model for that of many other fashion designers. In addition, she mass-produced her garments so that they would be more available to middle-class consumers.

As noted elsewhere in this paper, regarding how clothing is a self-representation, Chanel's minimalist designs enabled women to take control of their self-portrayal to society. This portrayal conveyed a sense that women rejected clothes that limited physical movement and were limited to a more overwrought presentation of femininity (George, 2011). Furthermore, they also provided clothing that was more practical to wear for the increasing numbers of working women.

Japanese Avant-garde Style

The early 1980s saw the work of such Japanese fashion designers like Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons explode onto the international fashion scene. Their work was based on an aesthetic vision that has been hailed as revolutionary (Kondo, 2010), although as seen above in the work of Coco Chanel, it wasn't entirely unprecedented. Nevertheless, the work of these designers shared certain common aesthetic characteristics. These characteristics included architectural forms with loose textures, lack of symmetry, and somber color schemes with unusual textures (Kondo, 2010). An example of such clothing would be lace outerwear that was prepared with holes and rips in the fabric.

To European and American fashion critics these designers produced work that seemed to invite derision. One popular epithet for such garments was the so-called "Hiroshima bag-lady look" (Kondo, 2010). However, the Japanese avant-garde style had supporters who viewed their pieces as both ground-breaking and subversion of existing fashion norms. Although once dismissed as a mere fad, the Japanese minimalist style has actually retained considerable influence on international fashion aesthetics. Indeed, one New York-based fashion designer, Diane Permet, referred to the style as "fashion's last big shock" (Kondo, 2010). Moreover, the ongoing success of Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo forced their counterparts, in Europe and the US, to view Tokyo as an influential site of fashion style creation and not merely as emulators of fashion designs originating overseas.

During the early 1980s, fashion journalists and critics identified a number of distinctive characteristics of what was unfortunately called "Japanese fashion." The first is the importance invested in cloth as a starting point (Kondo, 2010). The fabrics were usually designed in-house and commissioned for a specific use. This work also drew on the latest available technology to produce striking synthetics and artisanal textiles. Yohji Yamamoto often spoke of nuno no hyojo. Rei Kawakubo collaborated with textile designers and creators whose motifs can be seen in her work. For the spring-summer collections featured in Paris during the 1990s, the use of "non-woven, man-made fabric" was a major theme (Kondo, 2010).

The second characteristic is what can be termed 'terse expression.' The terse expression refers to an emphasis on the integrity of the woven material. This leads the designer to prohibit any cutting or alteration of the cloth. Harold Koda, the head of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute connected this aesthetic to the traditional Japanese dress known as the kimono. In the kimono, almost the entire bolt is used with a paucity of waste (Kondo, 2010). This approach to clothing design is often contrasted with the Western approach where pattern pieces are overlaid on fabric and then cut out. As a result of this method, a large amount of fabric is discarded.

A similar Japanese innovation, also introduced in the early 1980s, was to manufacture garments all in the same size and then adjust them kimono-style to the particular size and body type of the wearer. The adjustment is made by wrapping and tying the fabric (Kondo, 2010).

Last, Japanese designers are said to be responsible for introducing the color black into Western fashion during the early 1980s. Yamamoto's and Kawakubo's extensive use of all-black garments virtually defined the dress of New York's downtown art scene during the 1980s and subsequently became associated with hipness (Kondo, 2010). Kawakubo's exploration of black was described by critics as an investigation of the connection between fabric and dye.

The influence of the Japanese avant-garde style was hailed by fashion critics as a model for other fashion designers. Indeed, the fashion industry's long-term trend toward looser clothing cuts for garments is said to have been directly related to this style's influence (Kondo, 2010). Some examples of these kinds of cuts include oversized shirts and pants, pants with elastic waists or four-sided tops (Kondo, 2010). Indeed the influence of these cuts has also included the design of sweat clothes worn particularly in the US.

An unfortunate feature of the arrival of the Japanese avant-garde in the US and Europe is a kind of casual racism and condescension towards the Japanese culture. Indeed, Kawakubo, whose work for Comme de Garcons was unveiled in Paris in the early 1980s, was described by the Associated Press as the "high priestess of the Jap wrap" (Kondo, 2010). As noted above, the "Hiroshima bag lady" epithet was commonly used courtesy of the publication Women's Wear Daily (Kondo, 2010). A fashion writer and publisher noted that the names of Japanese fashion designers were often spelled incorrectly in such notable US publications as Vogue and also in British fashion publications (Kondo, 2010). This is the kind of routine, and easily correctable error, that might not be the least bit tolerated with US, French or Italian fashion designers.

The response of the major clothing retailers was also mixed. Fashion journalism of the period noted the contrast between how Ralph Lauren's clothes were displayed in a store like Bloomingdale's, or other major department stores, and how the clothing of Japanese designers was displayed. These clothing lines were often consigned to a corner in the store and shabbily maintained (Kondo, 2010). For some researchers, the prevalence of racism can, at least in part, be explained by the fierce economic competition Japan was providing the West during the 1980s and in many areas of industry not just fashion. There seemed to be a prevalence of unease with the burgeoning economic influence and success of Japan during that era.

Space Age, Minimalism and Fashion

Other cultural currents are also integrated into minimalist fashion. One of the most popular such sensibilities is the 'Space Age' look that became popular in the 1960s during the country's race to the moon. The Space Age presaged a fashion transformation and minimalism was of importance in this shift. Minimalism's emphasis on stripped-down, sterile, and oftentimes severe lines, was interpreted as futuristic in its own right (Dinant, 2010). The high-class meticulousness of the previous era was equated with extravagant detail. As noted above, this was analogous to the transformation Chanel introduced into women's fashion during the 1920s. In each case, the idea of the liberated, modern woman was its inspiration. This was a woman whose clothes allowed her the freedom to live in the way now open to her. The clothes of such fashion designers as Pierre Cardin and Cape Courreges epitomized these styles and invoked a sense of wonder in spectators.

Courreges's approach to the blend of minimalism and futurism sought to reorder women's fashion. However, his personal interest was in formulating a woman's wardrobe that could rival that found in men's fashion in terms of ease of use and simplicity (Dinant, 2010). Indeed, the designer was not particularly interested in making existing women's fashion principles in a manner that was more comfortable and functional. Courreges was also one of the first fashion designers, who in the wake of Chanel's ground-breaking work in the 1950s, to be inspired by the coupling of separates as a modern means of dressing.

However, Courreges was not interested in a simple reassignment of male fashion principles to females. Instead, he wanted to introduce women to a heretofore unexplored avenue of dressing and self-representation. His designs were particularly inspired by the stark look and severe lines of the period (Dinant, 2010). He toyed with geometric shapes and achieved fabric cuts that were a major departure from anything that had been seen previously. When, during the 1960s, Cardin and Courreges both unveiled monotone collections it led Vogue to proclaim that the color of the new year was white.

Courreges used his patterns to liberate the body, as opposed to cutting around it. In so doing he created dresses with an A-line shift that stood apart from the wearer without inhibitions. The dress focused on the practicality of the specific clothing item as a basis for a dressing system (Dinant, 2010). Courreges decided that the dress was too cumbersome or physically limiting. So the designer targeted the tunic, which could be matched with either tights of a thick, modesty retaining texture, or with trousers.

Courreges hunt for functionalism led him to discover the design innovation known as the mini-skirt. But the tunic was central to the evolution of minimalist design and thus its use was not unprecedented (Dinant, 2010). Indeed, the tunic was used in the designs of Poiret, who designed a lampshade style version. It was also found in the work of Balenciaga, who designed 'sacque' dresses noted for their luxury. Without a doubt, Courreges, was inspired by the idea that the tunic was a central garment with multiple functions and it was made a mainstay of his collections. His collections also featured trousers because they supplied the sterile, efficient style he sought to achieve. However, in doing so he departed from the prevailing trend of dressing women in skirts.

Courreges also identified the stiletto as playing a central role in women's subordination. Instead, he substituted boots, with a flat sole, and sporty looking, marketed under his own label. The boots were made from patent leather and featured slots around the top section with sometimes a small tassel in the front (Dinant, 2010). This accessory indicated the promotion of deconstructed self-expression. That is, Courreges was one of the earliest fashion designers who encouraged minimalism as a lifestyle. He sought to provide a way to perform such a life in ways that extended beyond the utility of fashion. The designer modeled his collections using models who wore space-age style helmets or bonnets as accessories. He thus implied that the minimalist, space-age aesthetic was going to be all-encompassing and the wave of the future. Pierre Cardin promoted similar ideas when he used science fiction themed spectacles and Op Arty style gloves made of vinyl.

A number of the world's museums display fashion pieces by both Courreges and Cardin, thus equating them as art produced in other media, such as sculpture, painting, and photography. Unfortunately, the work of these designers is degrading due to the use of unstable synthetic materials such as plastic and acetate (Dinant, 2010). Nevertheless, the intersection of fashion and art is something that has now become recognized.

From a critical standpoint, the work of the 1960s era space-age, minimalists was innovative from a commercial perspective including frequent use of patents and franchises. However, from a creative perspective, their work is often thought of as bland, unsophisticated, and not particularly well-conceived (Dinant, 2010). Some modern-day critics view the work of this era as ridiculous. On the other hand, technical and design sophistication are evident in Courreges oeuvre.

Courreges was quite influential and many of his designs were used as models to inform the work of other designers. The complexity of his work is evident in the use of chevron stitches on pockets which made them flatter and sturdier. He was also clever with those types of clothing that were rather pedestrian seeming. An example of such items includes bib yokes, patch pockets, and keyhole necklines (Dinant, 2010). The use of surface adornment indicated the piece's construction and functionality. The stitches were deployed using colors in contradistinction to the garment. At the same time, decoration did not play a major role. For instance, coat and jacket belts reached halfway around the back only. Also, seams with welts, which were reinforced with overlaid fabric and stitched at the top, provided an understated adornment.

Minimalism and New Nostalgia

A new shift took place in clothing design when the 1960s drew to a close. This shift is characterized by line and silhouette softening which would become commonly seen during the 1970s (Dinant, 2010). Courreges "Couture Future" was ready to wear collection introduced in 1970, and it retained the main elements of the designer's signature work. Unfortunately, after a decade of this style, his work began to wear a bit thin on fashion critics and consumers.

There was a new shift back to earlier fashion trends in a pattern similar to what occurred after the end of World War II. During this era, whimsy and staunchly feminine items were prominently displayed (Dinant, 2010). This seems to have been inspired by cultural currents influenced by the outcome of the war. That is, the defeated Nazi regime was closely associated with severity and brutalism. In contrast, in the late 1960s, with the Vietnam War well underway, there appeared a counter-culture inspired nostalgia for a time of peace and the bucolic. It's under these cultural shifts that minimalism. with its severe lines and angularity. dropped out of popular favor.

This shift away from minimalism characterizes much of the 1970s. Although there were some intrepid designers still producing work in the minimalist tradition. Jean Muir, who marketed under the label of Jane & Jane, diligently produced work conforming to the simplified aesthetic (Dinant, 2010). Muir's chunky knits and soft jersey maintained the features of the Arts and Crafts group and seemed pastoral enough. This quality meant they were acceptable under the shifting tastes of the period, despite the fact they still incorporated certain geometric and technical characteristics.

Along with other designers, such as Vionnet and Claire McCardell, Muir continued to seek after garments that conformed to certain features. This includes garments that fit comfortably on the body and supple enough to adjust to the wearer's movements (Dinant, 2010). To confirm that her clothes performed this way, Muir produced toiles, which are test garments used to verify patterns. In so doing, her work was a natural evolution from the hard-edged presentation of the 1960s Saint Laurent era.

The hippie movement had a much deeper significance in the US culture than in Europe and by the end of the 1970s fashion was in a mood to settle down once more. That is, consumers desired to retain the comfort and freedom provided by the minimalist look (Dinant, 2010). At the same time, there was an interest infusing it with a sense of cool. Thus Chanel's combination of the understated with the practical inspired a late 1970s phenom named Zoran Ladicorbic. Ladicorbic was a Yugoslavian born architect who had settled down in New York City.

After working in the retail industry for several years, Ladicorbic started his first collection which was sold under the Zoran label. Zoran's staple fabrics included such materials as velvet, silk, and cashmere (Dinant, 2010). He used this fabric to produce signature pieces that integrated elegance with simplicity. This understated style took a more discreet approach to a luxurious self-representation. He gave particular attention to the finish and cut off his clothing. According to Zoran, these were features that are equally as important as the exterior adornment of the garments. His skirts are direct without limiting the wearer's movement. His jackets are notably bereft of such features as buttons, cuffs and collars. His dresses can be described as slips (Dinant, 2010). Vogue has described his pieces as interchangeable and unobtrusive.

Zoran's work provided the ideal aesthetic for the period. It can be characterized as having both restraint and casual quality (Dinant, 2010). His colors ranged from cream, white, grey and nude in a palette with a decidedly muted effect. The designer's client base included professional actors such as Lauren Hutton, Isabella Rossellini, and Candice Bergen. He targeted his pieces on a particular type of woman who, from the designer's viewpoint was well-educated, mature and had considerable disposable income to spend on fashion. Moreover, Zoran's clientele were women who were fast travelers, hard workers, and experienced a lifestyle of sophistication.

Conclusion

In sum, minimalism is both a philosophical approach and an aesthetic principle. It's intellectual foundations rest with a perspective that values simplicity, sterility, and discretion over flamboyance, extravagance and decadence. As an aesthetic approach, minimalism has proved to have a recurring influence in the fields of art, architecture, and fashion where restraint in one's portrayal of objects, or in one's representation of the self, is held in much higher esteem than in overly expressive self-indulgence. Although it's notable that the minimalist aesthetic tends to shift its influence with alternative aesthetics that promote its philosophical opposite.

At the same time, the relevance of minimalism towards women's fashion appears to have been inspired by a desire for simplicity in the prevailing habits of dressing women. It's crucial that minimalist fashion was, in a sense, a counter-reaction against the public representation of women in a manner that was uncomfortable and restrictive to the wearers of such garments. Thus, the arrival of minimalism was at once a symbolic and substantive liberation of women's bodies from the predominant social order. This social order was rooted in the ideology of patriarchy, and in the strict observance of gender role norms, this ideology normalizes. Indeed, the fashion trends reviewed in this paper can be seen as a persisting tension between the two competing ideologies of patriarchy and feminism in gender role performance. The competition between these ideologies is manifested in competing styles of dress. On the one hand, there is the portrayal valued by patriarchy, with its emphasis on women's physical, social and psychological restraint. Opposite this is the portrayal valued by feminism with its reverse emphasis on mobility and freedom of the woman's body.

It may be that fashion designers differentiate in their intellectual agendas and perceptions of women's fashion. It may or may not be a conscious effort on the part of the designers. Although, as seen above, a conscious emphasis was certainly made by designers such as Chanel, during the period from 1920-1940. However, male designers appear to differ, in both their overall approach to women's fashion and in their approach to fashion's minimalist aesthetic. In the former case, as we've seen, the default aesthetic for many male designers is minimalism's opposite. But even when working within a minimalist aesthetic, male designers have formulated designs that pursue different directions from that of female designers working within the same aesthetic. That is to say, male designers, place less emphasis on the functionality of the clothing, and more on its appearance, than do female designers.