In recent years, fashion trends have changed and evolved with new influences from globalization. The rise of high-street brands has also challenged traditional luxury powerhouses, such as Chanel, Givenchy, Christian Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent and Prada. These are all iconic fashion brands with a heritage worth knowing more about.
Heritage is a brand’s long-term reputation and recognition. Heritage brands are recognized for quality, craftsmanship, and innovation. A heritage brand will have created products that have become popular over time. Some customers will buy these brands because they are recognizable and want to help keep them around for the next generation.
Heritage is an essential part of a brand’s identity. A brand can either emphasize its heritage in some way or create a new story based on old stories. For example, the fashion company Fendi makes many products using the design of the fennel flower, which was one of their original designs. They take their roots seriously and use them to their advantage.
Chanel, Givenchy, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Prada are all fashion brands with a heritage of decades. This is important because the brands have a sense of tradition and authenticity. They don’t follow trends; they create them. These brands are not just fashion brands; they embody the culture and aesthetic of high fashion. What makes them different from other brands is the level of inspiration behind their design and how it has impacted their customers’ lives. Each brand excels in various sectors, which gives them credibility to stand out among other brands. What also separates these brands is the trust customers have in them.
CHANEL, The ultimate luxury house
Chanel is a premium French fashion business founded in 1910 by couturière Coco Chanel. It specializes in ready-to-wear clothing for women and luxury products and accessories. Alain Wertheimer and Gérard Wertheimer, grandchildren of Pierre Wertheimer, an early business partner of Coco Chanel, presently run the firm. Chanel is famous for its Chanel No. 5 perfume and the Chanel Suit. Chanel revolutionized fashion, both high style (haute couture) and daily fashion (prêt-à-porter), by replacing structural shapes based on the corset and bodice with useful and attractive clothing to the female body. Chanel used Jersey fabric to create clothing that was both comfortable and inexpensive.
Givenchy, The elegant french touch
Givenchy is a premium fashion and perfume business based in France. It houses the Givenchy brand of high couture garments, accessories, fragrances and cosmetics. Givenchy is a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture et du Pret-a-Porter and was created in 1952 by designer Hubert de Givenchy. LVMH, a luxury multinational, owns it. Givenchy announced on 15 June 2020 that Matthew M. Williams of 1017 ALYX 9SM will succeed Clare Waight Keller as the House’s Creative Director. The first woman to occupy the job, Clare Waight Keller, served as artistic director from 2 May 2017 to 10 April 2020.
Christian Dior, A man’s vision on a woman’s World
Christian Dior was a French fashion designer best known for founding Christian Dior SE, one of the world’s most prestigious fashion companies, which LVMH currently owns. His fashion firms are well-known worldwide, having established themselves “on five continents in less than a decade.” Dior is the second child of Maurice Dior and Madeleine Martin and was born in Granville to a family of seven. Dior’s artistic abilities led to his working for and designing for several well-known fashion icons to save the fashion industry during WWII. Dior developed and established the Dior fashion business following World War II, with Dior’s “New Look” collection revolutionizing women’s wear and contributing to the reestablishment of Paris as the fashion capital. Throughout Dior’s career, he has received multiple honours for Best Costume Designs and has been honoured by several modern icons.
Yves Saint-Laurent, provocative luxury
Yves Saint Laurent, usually known as Saint Laurent, is a premium fashion label created by Yves Saint Laurent and his business partner Pierre Bergé in Paris, France. Under previous Creative Director Hedi Slimane, the firm resurrected its haute couture collection in 2015. Anthony Vaccarello was named creative director in April 2016.
Saint Laurent was founded in 1962 and now sells ready-to-wear clothing for ladies and men and leather items, shoes, and jewellery. Although Yves Saint Laurent Beauté has a presence in the beauty and fragrance sector, it is owned by L’Oréal, which has exclusive licensing to use the brand.
Prada, the iconic italian fashion brand
Mario Prada created Prada S.p.A., an Italian luxury fashion brand, in 1913. Leather purses, travel items, shoes, ready-to-wear, fragrances, and other fashion accessories are its specialities.
Mario Prada and his brother Martino founded the firm as Fratelli Prada, a leather goods shop in Milan, Italy, in 1913. Initially, the business specialized in animal products as well as English steamer trunks and purses.
Mario Prada did not feel that women should have a business place. Thus he barred female members of his family from working for him. Mario’s son, ironically, showed little interest in the industry, so Mario’s daughter Luisa took over and controlled Prada for over two decades. Miuccia Prada, Luisa’s daughter, joined the firm in 1970 and finally succeeded her mother in 1978.
Fashion is something that will always be an intense centre of interest. Some brands are beyond fashion and have become actual references in today’s world. Brands with heritage are solid and very interesting. Nevertheless, they represent an authentic soul and are true gate-keepers of our fashion heritage.
José Amorim
Information sourced by the author for luxuryactivist.com. All content is copyrighted without any reproduction rights available. Images are for illustration purposes only.
