Fashion design is the art of designing and creating beauty in clothing, accessories and fabrics. Up until the 1950s fashion design was mostly on a made-to-measure basis – ‘haute couture’. The mass produced high fashion we see on the high street today started in the 1960s. Prior to the emergence of the ‘fashion designer’ most items of clothing were created by anonymous artists – the seamstresses who created garments specifically to a customer’s specification. Charles F Worth is credited with being the first designer to sew his name on a label into his work, and thereby dictate to customers what they should wear rather than the other way around.

Here is some information on various vintage designers, their labels and what they are remembered for contributing to the fashion world.

• Liberty – Arthur Lasenby Liberty (1843-1917). This label is most noted for far Eastern style patterned silks and patterns right through from 1875 to the present day. See ‘The Vintage Fashion Resource’ for further information on this designer.
• Lucile – Edwardian fashion designer Lady Duff Gordon (Mrs Lucy Wallace), this lady ran an international fashion business from the 1890s to the 1930s. The V&A Museum have published a book of archive material - Lucille Ltd.

• Lelong - Lucien Lelong, noted for his 1920s silk gowns constructed from fine materials, he is credited with starting a ready to wear line of garments in 1934. He was the president of the 'Chambre Syndicale de la Couture' in 1937 and played a part in starting the careers if Christian Dior, Balmain and Givenchy at his fashion house.
  

• Poiret – French designer who revolutionized fashion with bright and fun designs but he was also responsible for the ‘hobble skirt’. He opened his fashion house in 1904 and straightened the Edwardian hourglass figure in his exotic designs, however following World War I his designs were no longer desirable and is house closed in 1929.

• Worth – Charles Frederick Worth moved from London to Paris and after working his way up started his own fashion house in 1874, passing through his family till its closure in 1953. The name Worth was used by Worth London Ltd until 1967.

• Emilio Pucci – Started by designing skiwear for American company White Stag in the late 1940s. He started his design house ‘Emilio of Capri’ on the island of Capri in Italy, he designed swimwear and lingerie, also noted for producing psychedelic prints in silk and velvet.




(I will continue to add to this page, please check back for further information, if you can't find the information you  are lookin gfor I recommend The Vintage Fashion Guilds Website.)