“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” Henry David Thoreau.
There are a few designers from the seventies that set the trends for decades to come.
These designers were cutting edge for their time and their creations and designs are still being used today by contemporary designers around the world. With the eighties moving by, the seventies is looking like it is going to be the next big thing in Vintage Clothing.
Let us take a look at some of the movers and shakers from this era:
Vintage Seventies Designers
Halston
Roy Halston Frowick was a definitive designer of the seventies who created nearly every popular dress that you saw on the dance floor. His draped and free moving construction of his garments without buttons or zippers made them perfect for the dance floor. The halter and the shoulder style dress were hands down his most replicated pieces. Halston designed for many of the celebrities back in the seventies and was one of the first major designers to license his name, making his clothes more accessible tot he masses.
Missoni
Italian Fashion Designer Ottavio Missoni was best known for knitwear with their bold, bright space dyed weave patterns.The Missoni zig zag pattern knit is easily recognizable in today’s fashion. It is used on everything from scarves, caps, dresses and outerwear.
Diane von Furstenberg
Von Furstenberg will most likely always be noted as the designer who invented the jersey wrap dress which soon became a wardrobe necessity. The Kimoni inspired wrap dress is Von Furstenberg trademark dress, she was influential to all dress designers establishing a standard for the ease and comfort in woman’s clothing for decades to come.
Thea Porter
Thea Porter is a half English, half French clothing designer that was inspired by traveling the world when she was young. She translated her multi cultured ethnic experiences into her designs that inspired the bohemian look that was popular in the mid seventies. Her career as a designer began with her own extensive clothing collection and a middle eastern import store on the fashion streets of London. There she designed a number of different caftans, maxi dresses that were all very accessible and stylish.
Bill Gibb
Bill Gibb was famous for mixing prints, textures and embellishments with ethnic, medieval, and romantic flare. This made Gibb a tremendous influence of the “hippie” style of clothing that became popular in the 70’s. Gibb was influenced by a close friend and artist/textile designer Kaffe Fassett who inspired the wild use of colors and patterns that you see in his designs.
These designers all left their mark on fashion for years to come. Many of the vintage pieces that we collect today from the seventies were inspired by these designers. If you ever run across and origional piece I would recomend holding onto it, you never know when you will have the opportunity to get an item like that again.
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