![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Pump_2_%28PSF%29.svg/50px-Pump_2_%28PSF%29.svg.png)
The Fashion Portal
![]() | |
![]() |
Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into outfits§that depict distinctive ways of dressing (styles and trends) as signifiers of social status, self-expression, and group belonging. As a multifaceted term, fashion describes an industry, styles, aesthetics, and trends.
The term 'fashion' originates from the Latin word 'Facere,' which means 'to make,' and describes the manufacturing, mixing, and wearing of outfits adorned with specific cultural aesthetics, patterns, motifs, shapes, and cuts, allowing people to showcase their group belonging, values, meanings, beliefs, and ways of life. Given the rise in mass production of commodities and clothing at lower prices and global reach, reducing fashion's environmental impact and improving sustainability has become an urgent issue among politicians, brands, and consumers. (Full article...)
Selected article -
New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general public. It is one of four major fashion weeks in the world, collectively known as the "Big Four", along with those in Paris, London, and Milan. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) created the modern notion of a centralized "New York Fashion Week" in 1993, although cities like London were already using their city's name in conjunction with the words fashion week in the 1980s. NYFW is based on a much older series of events called "Press Week", founded in 1943. On a global scale, most business and sales-oriented shows and some couture shows take place in New York City.
A centralized calendar of citywide events (including those affiliated with WME/IMG) is kept by the CFDA, and was acquired from calendar founder Ruth Finley.
The annual economic impact of New York Fashion Week upon New York City was estimated at US$887 million in 2016. (Full article...)Core topics -
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Diane_von_F%C3%BCrstenberg_Spring-Summer_2014_06.jpg/300px-Diane_von_F%C3%BCrstenberg_Spring-Summer_2014_06.jpg)
A fashion show (French défilé de mode) is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons. This is where designers seek to promote their new fashions. The four major fashion weeks in the world, collectively known as the "Big 4", in chronological order of their eponymous fashion weeks, are those held in New York City, London, Milan, and Paris. Berlin fashion week is also of global importance.
In a typical fashion show, models walk the catwalk dressed in the clothing created by the designer. Clothing is illuminated on the catwalk using lighting and special effects. The order in which each model walks out, wearing a specific outfit, is usually planned in accordance with the statement that the designer wants to make about their collection. It is then up to the audience to try to understand what the designer is trying to "say", visually deconstruct each outfit and appreciate the detail and craftsmanship of every piece. (Full article...)Featured picture -
![Lotus shoes](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Foot_binding_shoes_1.jpg/300px-Foot_binding_shoes_1.jpg)
A pair of lotus shoes, which are shoes that were worn by women in China who had bound feet. They were delicately constructed from cotton or silk, and small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. They are cone or sheath-shaped, intended to resemble a lotus bud. Though foot binding is no longer practiced, many lotus shoes survive as artifacts in museums or private collections.
Did you know... -
- ... that the white dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch (pictured) is up for auction today and may fetch up to two million US dollars?
- ... that the wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer became one of the most famous outfits in the world and featured a 25-foot (7.6 m) train?
- ... that Clare Potter was one of the first fashion designers in the United States to be known by name and is credited with inventing American sportswear?
Selected biography -
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel (/ʃəˈnɛl/ shə-NEL, French: [ɡabʁijɛl bɔnœʁ kɔko ʃanɛl] ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post–World War I era with popularizing a sporty, casual chic as the feminine standard of style. This replaced the "corseted silhouette" that had earlier been dominant with a style that was simpler, far less time-consuming to put on and remove, more comfortable, and less expensive, all without sacrificing elegance. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. A prolific fashion creator, Chanel extended her influence beyond couture clothing, realizing her aesthetic design in jewellery, handbags, and fragrance. Her signature scent, Chanel No. 5, has become an iconic product, and Chanel herself designed her famed interlocked-CC monogram, which has been in use since the 1920s.
Her couture house closed in 1939, with the outbreak of World War II. Chanel stayed in France and was criticized during the war for collaborating with the Nazi-German occupiers and the Vichy puppet regime to free her nephew from a prisoner of war camp. To secure his release Chanel began a liaison with a German diplomat/spy she had known before the war, Baron (Freiherr) Hans Günther von Dincklage. And following her nephew's release, she collaborated in minor ways. After the war, Chanel was interrogated about her relationship with Dincklage, but she was not charged as a collaborator due to intervention by her friend—British prime minister Winston Churchill. When the war ended, Chanel moved to Switzerland, returning to Paris in 1954 to revive her fashion house. In 2011, Hal Vaughan published a biography about Chanel based on newly declassified documents, revealing that she had collaborated directly with the Nazi intelligence service, the Sicherheitsdienst. One plan in late 1943 was for her to carry an SS peace overture to Churchill to end the war. (Full article...)General images
Lua error: No content found on page "Women's beachwear fashion".
More Did you know (auto generated)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg/47px-Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg.png)
- ... that during the Second World War, the British government's campaign Make-Do and Mend encouraged the public to fashion men's clothes into womenswear?
- ... that Carlisle miser Margery Jackson, who chose to live like a pauper, possessed a fine court mantua?
- ... that Heather Baron-Gracie of the band Pale Waves likened the music video for their song "Jealousy" to a "Helmet Lang or Calvin Klein advert"?
- ... that Broadway actress Isabelle Urquhart started a fashion trend when she decided to reveal her figure on stage by not wearing petticoats?
- ... that the clothing tags for Alexander McQueen's first collection, Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims, had McQueen's own hair encased inside?
- ... that radio station WIQT near Elmira, New York, was co-owned with a regional group of clothing, furniture, and shoe stores?
Selected quote -
Related portals
Topics
Featured content
Categories
Things you can do
- Fill out the red links on Portal:Fashion/Selected anniversaries
Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus