Fashion History: Guy Laroche

Guy Laroche was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company. Before entering the industry in the 1940s, Guy Laroche had no formal training in fashion design. However, he soon built up a varied portfolio of experience, beginning with styling and millinery in New York followed by work in fashion and merchandising on Seventh Avenue. Returning to Paris he was offered a job as design assistant at the fashion house of Jean Dessés. Dessés was famous for designing the stole and distinctive draped chiffon evening gowns in striking colors. Laroche was involved in these innovations and in 1955 traveled to the U.S. to study new fabrication methods for ready-to wear.

In 1956 he founded a high-fashion atelier at 37 avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Paris. His first well received collection, reintroduced vibrant colors such as pink, orange, coral, topaz and turquoise. This collection, shown in his apartment, was one of subtle sophistication, reminiscent of Balenciaga's restrained elegance: simple tops that spread into huge bouffant skirts, or relaxed short evening dresses in black silk chiffon, with elegant capes. Later collections were more feminine, fun, and younger in feel: short puffed hems and schoolgirl dresses or delicate gathered drapes and scallop-effect necklines. Guy Laroche clothes were particularly noted for their skillful cutting and tailoring.

In 1961, he moved to larger quarters, a townhouse at 29 avenue Montaigne, Paris. He then opened a boutique there and introduced his first ready-to-wear collection. In 1966, Laroche introduced Fidji, his first women’s fragrance. He also began to design men's ready-to-wear and and opened the Guy Laroche Monsieur boutique. Licensed goods promoted the reputation of the Guy Laroche name internationally. Lingerie, nightwear, hats, ties, bags, scarves, and jersey knits were exported and sold in 250 boutiques worldwide.

Guy Laroche, the legendary designer, died in 1989, while his company struggled under successive designers, including Michael Klein, Elber Albaz, and Ronald van der Kemp. Albaz, widely credited with rejuvenating the company, left to head up Yves Saint Laurent in 1997. In November 2007, franco-Swedish designer Marcel Marongiu took over as Artistic Director of Guy Laroche.


Read more: Guy Laroche - Fashion Designer Encyclopedia - clothing, men, style, new, body, hair, footwear, collection, dresses, hats, world http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/Ki-Le/Laroche-Guy.html#ixzz15gMreo8V



Vintage 1980s Guy Laroche Drop Waist Dress. Available on online at boroughvintage.com


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Fashion History: Donyale Luna

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Donyale Luna, born as Peggy Anne Freeman, was the first African American model to appear on the cover of Vogue (March 1966). An article in Time magazine published in April 1966, "The Luna Year," described the Luna as "a new heavenly body who, because of her striking singularity, promises to remain on high for many a season. Donyale Luna, as she calls herself, is unquestionably the hottest model in Europe at the moment. She is only 20, a Negro, hails from Detroit, and is not to be missed."

Although the names printed on her birth certificate say otherwise, she insisted that her biological father was a man with the surname Luna and that her mother was Mexican. According to the model, one of her grandmothers was reportedly an Irishwoman who married a black interior decorator. Whether any of this background is true is uncertain. In the mid 1960s, a relative described Luna as being "a very weird child, even from birth, living in a wonderland, a dream."

According to Judy Stone, who wrote a profile of Luna for The New York Times in 1968, the model was "secretive, mysterious, contradictory, evasive, mercurial, and insistent upon her multiracial lineage -- exotic, chameleon strands of Mexican, American Indian, Chinese, Irish, and, last but least escapable, Negro."

During the late sixties and early seventies, Luna appeared in several films produced by Andy Warhol. In the late 1960s, in an interview, she expressed her fondness for LSD: "I think it's great. I learned that I like to live, I like to make love, I really do love somebody, I love flowers, I love the sky, I like bright colors, I like animals. [LSD] also showed me unhappy things -- that I was stubborn, selfish, unreasonable, mean, that I hurt other people." May 17, 1979 Luna died in Rome, Italy, in a clinic, after a drug overdose.

To read more about Donyale Luna click here.

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Fashion History: Ellen Quinlan Donnelly Reed's Nelly Don

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As a housewife, Ellen Quinlan Donnelly Reed was concerned with the lack of style of the ordinary housedress of the 1920s. She went to create a smarter, more colorful style of dress for herself. After attracting a great deal of attention for dresses she made for herself, Reed decided that all women should have the opportunity to share the more stylish clothes.

In 1919 Reed opened the Donnelly Garment Co. in downtown Kansas City, for less than $1,500. Women paid what was considered to be a very high price, one dollar, for the new styles. Nelly Don became one of the largest U.S. dress manufacturers of the 20th century. Nelly Don was headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri and manufactured about 75 million dresses between 1916 and 1978. This company was one of the first companies to to use assembly line techniques for clothing manufacturing. During World War II, Nelly Don was also the largest manufacturer for women's military and work clothing. A documentary film was made about this company titled Nelly Don: A Stitch in Time. Reed was an astute businesswoman who led her company through depressions, recessions, wars and battles with the federal government over regulations. She sought to create better working conditions for her employees. Her company was the first in Kansas City to pay for group hospitalization, provide welfare benefits and make educational opportunities available for workers and their children. She also had survived her own tribulations, including being kidnapped and held for ransom.

Additional information on the this brand and it's founder can be found at www.nellydon.com. Check out our Facebook Page for pics of a Borough Vintage Nelly Don Dress.

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*Information taken from wikipedia,womenscouncil.org and nellydon.com

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