Fashion's Open Door

Two ideas Robin Givhan presents in her new book, The Battle of Versailles, should encourage designers in lesser developed countries to enter the fashion industry. She traces the history of fashion from one-of-a-kind haute couture styles dictated by the French monarchy to ready-to-wear separates women find practical and a freeing way to express their own style. The fashion industry Givhan describes today is: 1) a global business and 2) in a constant state of flux. The earlier blog post, "The World of Fashion," already mentioned designers in China, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, as well as France, the UK, Germany, USA, and Japan.

     New designers have a wide open opportunity to introduce their own new looks. Earlier blog posts mention jewelry makers (See "Fashion Forward.") and textile weavers (See "International Fashion Designers Find Consumer Niches," "Fashion As a Cottage (and Sustainable) Industry," and "The Continuing Battle of Good and Evil.") who are uniquely suited to work together to create coordinating pieces, such as the Versace-designed emerald green necklace and gown Scarlett Johansson wore to the 2015 Academy Awards or the geometric necklace Project Runway finalist, Amanda Valentine, created to complement her color-blocked maxi dress. Chico's, the retailer known to feature jewelry inspired by the clothes it sells, might be ready to feature just such items.

     Taaluma (a Swahili word meaning "profession") is a company that has combined travel and fashion. On trips to Guatemala, Indonesia, Mali, Bhutan, and Nepal (recently suffering from a major earthquake), explorers from Taaluma (carryacountry.com): 1) purchased traditional fabrics, 2) made these textiles into backpacks, and 3) donated a portion of the proceeds back to the countries' organizations.

     Fashion also has become interested in protecting the planet. In order to use less water and fossil fuel to produce and transport goods in the entire supply channel, new items are being recycled out of old ones. The earlier blog post, "Recycled Fashion Firsts," reported how, for example, the fence that once imprisoned Nelson Mandela in South Africa had been made into jewelry.

     T-shirts, bracelets, and a variety of fashion items are now used to support causes (See the blog post, "North Pole Flag."), and, despite continuing problems in countries such as Bangladesh, organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council have been formed to make sure artisans, cottage industries, and employees in lesser developed countries work in safe/healthy conditions and are fairly compensated.

     In The Battle of Versailles, Givhan writes that designers design from what they come from. Nowadays, that can be any country or culture in the world.