1960s

Couture is becoming passe; ready-to-wear made designer fashion more accessible. Yves Saint Laurent made the radical leap from post-war Parisian design to youthful, liberating fashion – from Haute Couture to Rive Gauche – soon followed by Lanvin, Givenchy, Celine, Pierre Cardin, Guy Laroche, Nini Ricci and Oscar de la Renta, amongst others. Although where Paris had led the way, the world now looked to London and the mood on the street. Mary Quant’s short tunics and shift dresses were a springboard into the decade that freed women from restrictive clothing. Ironically, the 60’s also heralded the advent of plastic, chainmail, architectural designs and even more synthetics! Andre Courreges, Pierre Cardin and the futuristic, space age movement. Paco Rabanne’s Barbarella costumes. Supermodels and the jet-set age. Teenage fashion was the zeitgeist – “Youthquake”, as coined by US Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Diana Vreeland in 1963. 

Advances in machine technology produce the finest knitwear in evermore complex designs by the likes of Missoni and Sonia Rykeil. From Pucci and Leonard to Biba, psychedelia to monochrome minimalism, graphic lines, Op art and Pop-art. Ossie Clark, Foale and Tuffin, Zandra Rhodes. Boutiques are the place to buy, catering for both affordable, contemporary fashions and a new generation of designer, ready-to-wear labels from international designers: Frank Usher, Salvatore Ferragamo and Cacharel.

The nostalgia and romanticism of the hippies, ethnic influences and an acceptance of buying second-hand clothes and incorporating period looks (the phenomenon of ‘vintage fashion’), lead to styles put together by the individual, not driven by designer creations. Even the simplistic yet precise Mod uniform softens. It’s the decade of the leg - hemlines rise quickly to mini, then micro-mini and hotpants but also feature maxi. Tuxedos and trouser suits take off. Backless, topless and cutaway…what next?  Yet the 1960’s is only just the start of fashion’s seismic change…