From Coco Chanel to Jean Paul Gaultier, the designer's word also sells
Coco Chanel , Cristóbal Balenciaga , Miuccia Prada , Christian Dior or Jean Paul Gaultier are some of the designers who have conquered the public with their creations, but also with their philosophy of life, advice on style or vision of the industry through the word .
Ideas that have been embodied in phrases such as “Fashion is not something that only exists in dresses. Fashion is in the sky, in the streets. Fashion has to do with ideas, with the way we live, with what is happening”, said Coco Chanel, who advised her clients with these words: “keep your head, your heels and your principles high”.
For a long time, fashion has been understood as something more than a way of dressing, it is a way of expressing oneself, of presenting oneself to others. "What is fashion? It is discipline. Discipline, and a creed to do only the best, down to the smallest detail”, assured Manolo Blahnik.
Each designer has understood his craft in a special way. “A good fashion designer must be an architect for design, a sculptor for form, a painter for colour, a musician for harmony and a philosopher for measurement”, as Cristóbal Balenciaga defined him.
“I make clothes, women make fashion”, said Azzedine Alaïa. “Designing clothes is not a profession, but an art”, said Elsa Schiaparelli while the American Ralph Lauren assured: “I don't design clothes, I design dreams”.
“The dress should follow the body of a woman. It is not the body that must adapt to the dress”, warned Hubert de Givenchy. The Spaniard Manuel Pertegaz went further: "When he sees beautiful suits, God smiles with pleasure."
“There is no better designer than nature”, said Alexander McQueen, who considered that “fashion should not be politically correct, otherwise it would never be revolutionary”.
Karl Lagerfeld pointed out: “Fashion does not have to be serious. It's proof that smart frivolity can be creative and positive."
For Marc Jacobs "clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them" and Yves Saint Laurent said "over the years I have learned that the most important thing about a dress is the woman who wears it".
One thing is fashion and another is style. “It's not about the clothes, it's about who's wearing them. Who remembers which bag Sofia Loren used to wear? But everyone remembers her neckline!” Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana explained.
"Not the appearance, is the essence. It's not the money, it is education. It's not the clothes, it's the class ”, clarified Coco Chanel about what her style was for her.
“What you wear is the way to present yourself to the world, especially nowadays, when human contacts are so ephemeral. Fashion is an instant language”, that is how Miuccia Prada defined style.
For John Galliano it is “wearing an evening dress to a McDonald's and wearing high heels to soccer. It is personality, confidence and seduction”; for Ralph Lauren, it is something “very personal, it has nothing to do with fashion. Fashion passes quickly, style is forever” and for Giorgio Armani “elegance is not being noticed, but being remembered”.
Designers have made efforts to dress women to make them shine even more. "Empowering women is something that I do through clothing, a very effective means of achieving it," said Donatella Versace.
“The woman only has one defect: she does not recognize how valuable she is”, assured Carolina Herrera, who not long ago caused a stir on social networks when she pronounced “only women without class have long hair after forty ”.
“When a woman becomes her best friend, life is easier”, said Diane Von Fürstenberg for whom in terms of style “attitude is everything”.
For many seamstresses, beauty is not synonymous with style. "There are many kinds of beauty, and you can find it where you least expect it," said Jean Paul Gaultier.
“Ugly is attractive. Ugly is exciting. The investigation of ugliness is, for me, more interesting than the bourgeois idea of beauty”, said Miuccia Prada.
“Enthusiasm for life is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty without enthusiasm”, used to say Christian Dior.
When designing, comfort has been the most important pillar for creators. “Luxury must be comfortable; otherwise, it's not luxury”, sentenced “mademoiselle” Chanel, an idea shared by Gianni Versace, who considered that “comfort is very important to me. I think people live better in big houses and with big clothes.”
