The History of Fashion Communication

The history of fashion communication and it's development into what is now a thriving industry is a long and extensive one. It's roots can be dated back as far as the 16th century,when fashion began to make itself know as an important aspect of society, especially within European culture. The division and grouping of society through visual clues and codes allowed individuals to show status through colours, shapes, fabrics and accessories. But how was upper-class society able to keep up with what was in or out of fashion, information necessary if they were to maintain the elite status of being fashionable? From it's origin the spreading of the latest style from person to person and social group to social group has developed in such a way as to allow certain fashions to take hold. In this article we shall be looking at how the spreading of style was developed from the 16th century to the present day, and we will do this by examining fashion communication tools such as fashion dolls, fashion plates, fashion photography and magazines, as well as the present and ever-growing fashion blog and social fashion media. These aspects shall be analysed individually to discover how each has contributed towards fashion communication today.
 It could be said that the one tool that has always been present through fashion

communication is word of mouth. This is evident in the writings of Jane Austen. In her both her fiction and her letters, we read greatly of the divide between town and country, and how the spreading of town fashion was filtered into country society through word of mouth – as Austen writes to her sister, Cassandra, whilst she was staying in the high society of Bath: 'Bonnets of cambric muslin on the plan of Lady Bridges' are a good deal worn, and some of them are very pretty.' (Austen, 1801). This point illustrating that not only did fashion play a major role in the lives of eligible young ladies, it was also important that the latest fashion news be deciminated from major social groups to smaller

ones. As discussed in the introduction, in the 16th century the significance of fashion truly began to take hold, and the need to be considered fashionable was ever increasing. This led, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries to the invention of the fashion plate although, due to limitations in printing, they were never successfully utilised until the 18th and 19th centuries, and even then were limited in their representation of fashions for women in high society. This led, in the interim, to the creation and circulation of fashion dolls or Poupées de Mode within high society. It is a matter for debate as to which country, either England or France, was responsible for the invention of these dolls, however they were vastly popular in both countries during the 17th century. Usually made of wood or plaster, these dolls featured delicate painted faces, and were utilised to create mini representations of the dressmaker's designs for the approval of the wealthy client. Dressed with the silks, laces and details featured on the would-be full size dress, women such as Marie Antoinette would have chosen her wedding dress from a Poupées de Mode. Despite the various benefits of fashion dolls, in terms of fashion communication, they were soon abandoned and replaced in the 18th century by the now easier to produce fashion plate. It is thought that the concept of fashion plates originated from the portraits commissioned by royalty, intended as representations of their marriageable offspring. Whatever their true origins, fashion plates became the first ever form of fashion magazine. This can be seen in The Mercure Gallant. First published in 1672, The Mercure Gallant, featured reports on fashion news, court life and various anecdotes towards acceptable behaviour. It displayed fashion through various articles and a wide variety of fashion plates. A fashion plate, in itself, is a detailed drawing of a look

featuring dresses, fabrics, shoes, hats and accessories, along with descriptions of the exact materials, their colours, construction and trim. The study of fashion plates reveals much about the changes and developments in fashion in any given period, but they also reveal the social expectations of this society, its perceptions of female beauty and guidance as to the behavioural norms of the upper classes, illustrated through the scenarios within the plates. In the early plates of the 18th century, fashionable figures were often set to plain backgrounds, however this changed when in the late 18th century fashion plates took on a more lavish state than before. Featuring natural poses with fantastical designs in more romantic settings as developments in printing, led the colouring of plates to become more common. The artwork in the fashion plates alone during this time, made them covetable

items in their own right. As time changed the fashion plate would change also, adaptable to its period. As a result of the French Revolution, London became the home of fashion communication, resulting

in fashion plates boasting an air of British style, and the publication of many British fashion magazines, The Gallery of Fashion, being an example. However, despite this Paris still remained the centre of fashion, and by the 19th century it had officially regained its status as the capital of fashion, and with this, a new ideal of woman had emerged from within its fashion plates. Still containing some air of romanticism, the figures in the plates boasted femininity and delicacy, perhaps with a more haughtier air than the previous sense of naturalism. However, another major change within the fashion plates occurred in the 19th century, as Christopher Breward states in Fashion on The Page: 'By the 1840's the endeavours of the fashion trade, to reach new markets (in terms

of class and age) through the promotion of its products in a range of competing magazines where much more robust. This meant that the illustrations became more literal in their recording of stylistic change and seasonal variation but seemingly less expressive of any social or psychological context.' (Breward, 2003)

This resulted in them reaching a wider middle-class audience during this period as printing advanced and production of the fashion plates became quicker. Sadly, however, this also affected the quality of the plates and resulted in a lower standard of production. The use of the fashion plate was still well featured up until the 1950's. In fact, during the early 20th century fashion plates, rather than being the soul and only way to sell fashion, were also still being used as a correct visual method of displaying etiquette. After this time, developments in photography, led to the redundancy of the fashion plate, it being demoted to a small space usually featured alongside gossip columns. From the 1500's to the 1950's, fashion plates created a visual record of fashion development beneficial to fashion and art historians alike. From its invention in 1816, it took the camera quite a while to achieve a firm hold and become the central producer of fashion photography. Many theories have been suggested for this, a principal one being that in a time where fashion was created for the individual as unique objects, photographing that fashion would create desire for that style from those who viewed it, making the model's personal fashion no longer unique and reducing status through fashion for that person. Despite this the first time photography was used to capture fashion was in a series of famous photographs commissioned and modelled by Virginia Oldoini, more famously know as The Countess of Castiglione in 1865. A famous Italian socialite, the Countess commissioned Pierre-Louis Pierson to photograph her in her various fashions. It has been suggested, that the Countess herself ordered these photographs for the exact reasons that fashion photography wasn't being used; that she wanted to create desire, as well as to illustrate her social standing, to show her wealth and her importance. creating a sense of distance between herself and even those of her own social class. However, despite the unknowing revolution that the Countess created, it wasn't until 1911 that the first fashion editorial was published. Photographed by Edward J. Steichen, Art e Décoration magazine published the first ever series of fashion images. This is particularly interesting when we consider that magazines such as Vogue were well on their way to becoming the prominent fashion magazines they are today, yet they still mainly featured fashion plates. As we have stated previously The Mercure Galant was said to be the first ever fashion magazine and this was slowly followed through time by Harper's Bazaar in 1867 and Vogue in 1892. The study of these two magazines and their individual styles in terms of photography would make for an interesting study, however neither of these magazines featured photographs until the 1920's and 30's. When photography was finally utilised, the two magazines created their individual styles through the selection of specific photographers and both became prominent due to these selections. However, of the two it was Vogue that mainly revolutionized the way we see fashion media. After its origin as an elite society journal, Vogue was steered towards fashion when in 1909 it was brought by Condé Nast. Under Condé Nast's reign expenses were no object, and in this way he ensured the success of the magazine by always producing something incredible to the eye: 'Vogue capitalized on design innovations introduced in the production of European art magazines at the turn of the century, repacking the fashion magazine as a desirable object in it's own right, an harmonious and authoritative style guide that functioned as a bible for the fashion-conscious.' (Breward, 2003)

Famous as being the among the first photographers to have worked for Vogue during the first era of fashion photography were Edward J Steichen, Horst P. Horst and George Hoynigen-Huene to name a few. These three photographers created a world of delicate surrealism in which fashion could be viewed. Condé Naste wanted to free Vogue from the clutches of the traditional high society ladies magazines and entirely revolutionize it. These chosen photographers helped to develop this dream by their shared visionary perspective on fashion and how it should be represented. In the post-war periods, however, Vogue truly flourished under the leadership of Alexander Liberman, as again, photographers such as Irving Penn, and William Klein were bought in to reshape the magazine, working in era that featured fashion on lady like models. Whilst at Harper's Bazaar, David Avedon was creating class in the magazine with such editorials that revolutionized fashion photography, documenting fashion such as Dior's “New Look”.

However, the lady-like women that were featured in Avedon's and Klein's work soon gave way to a new generation of, what could be termed as sex kittens, as the 60's Youthquake began to take hold. Editor Diana Vreeland encouraged photographers such  as David Bailey to document this change of roles of society, as the young began to take hold and sexual freedom and drug abuse became the norm. Magazines, and those like Diana Vreeland, were quick to encourage this new-found freedom for the younger generations. The abandoning of traditional ladies and a new encouragment of a youth

orientated culture made both Vogue and Harper's Bazaar extremely sucessful publications. When it came to the 1970's and 1980's this new sexual freedom turned into a far sinister representation of women in fashion. As we can see from the work of Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin, women in fashion photography were represented in violent and sexualized situations. This coincided with the development of high speed travel meaning that photo-shoots no longer had to be held within a studio, but could be shot almost anywhere in the world. This was yet another aspect that contributed towards the popularity of fashion media. The representation of youth in any area of the world wearing fantastical fashion made magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar works of art in their own right. Being able to see fashion in such scenarios is now far from the romantic style of the fashion

plates produced in the late 18th century. However, it is not only through fashion photography that fashion news is being distributed through fashion magazines. Fashion writing and the written analysis of new trends and fashions has allowed readers of fashion media to experience fashion first-hand through the written word. For some time reviews of designer's latest collections have given an instant source of the fashion runway into readers living rooms. Beauty and gossip columns have also played a major role in helping

to create fashion media. One example would be Diana Vreeland's “Why Don't You?” column for Harper's Bazaar in the 1950's, which contained helpful and sometimes surreal ideas from the writer and editor herself. As fashion media has advanced so has technology. The effect that technology has on fashion media is a surprising one. One example would be how fashion magazines are now able to reach viewers on a much wider range through the use of online platforms, as well as the sharing of articles through online social media. Followers of fashion now have a continual source of news at their finger tips through the use of social media. Such sites as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter allow fashion media to develop a deeper relationship between themselves and the reader, and the reader is now able to give feedback towards the magazine. Another way that technology has allowed fashion communication to develop is the new found opportunities for aspiring fashion writers, stylists,

photographers and models. There has been a recent influx in fashion blogs that allow a deeper insight into the fashion world for the bloggers that have become renowned through social media. The blogs provide a more personal view of fashion, but have become just as prominent and elite as Vogue or Elle magazine. There has also been an emergence of fashion vloggers. Another way in which social media has developed fashion communications is the elitism in the social media world of celebrities. A website such as Instagram can be used to reflect status through images of fashion and accessories. Instagram is now also being used by modelling agencies in order to pick and choose new aspiring models. The technological impact on fashion is increasing daily. It will be interesting to see and analyse the possible future events that fashion media has in store. As we have seen fashion communication has developed greatly over the years as has fashion itself. From the fashion doll that circulated in the 17th century and the evolution of the fashion plate, to the development of fashion writing and fashion photography that enabled fashion media and magazines to become a thriving industry, fashion media and the spreading of fashion and style has effectively contributed to our society as it is today. The birth of trends are documented, and as we study the history of fashion media, through the tools used with it, we are able to see how our society has developed, and are

able to analyse the society in a certain period of time and to judge the social conditions and relevant affects of what was happening during the time that such a tool was being used.

Images Sources

https://uk.pinterest.com/andrewschroeder/17th-century-fashion-plates-illustrations/?lp=true

https://byronsmuse.wordpress.com/tag/countess-of-castiglione/

https://uk.pinterest.com/gillianlsmith/why-dont-you-by-diana-vreeland/?lp=true