I am thrilled to share with you guys that I am one of Century 21's top 5 fashion bloggers to participate in the Decades of Fashion program, where we will be exploring what we find the most inspirational about 5 different decades in fashion in celebration of Century 21's 50th anniversary! Century 21 for the past 50 years has been a premier department store here in NYC offering high fashion goods with a generous discount. Naturally, they have always had their eyes forward in fashion. With Fashion Week still going strong, it's important to look back and appreciate the process of the changing sands and take note of what it means when we say "progress" in fashion.
I wanted to share a collection of what I consider to be some of the most inspirational ads of the 90's, which as a whole showcase the evolution of fashion as the decade progressed. I love observing and collecting ads because each set was created with the intension of wholeheartedly putting a brand out there as it is with the message they were trying to convey for the season, with models and photographers in tandem showing the world what it meant to be a part of a brand. We go from bright, fun, colorful opulence to quiet, dark and sophisticated minimalism and sometimes even understated humor.
More than anything, the 90's was a time of departure from the label-obsessed, consumer-heavy, strongly sculptured fashion culture of the '80's. With emerging designer collections from artists such as Pheobe Philo, Stella McCartney, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein and Marc Jacobs, the fashion world went back to the roots of youth culture and looking to the streets as its main inspiration (still going strong!). As we entered the late-90's and the impending millenium, we saw a shift to focus on edginess and advancements in technology with designers such as Alexander McQueen bringing together human and machine through fabrics and designs that required both beings.
But another thing I love about the '90's? My childhood. Here's me as a nugget playing dress-up at my grandparents' house in 1996:
Reminiscent of Jil Sander a little more than decade later, no?
Thank you to Century 21 for letting me share my love for Fashion History and for offering the goods that have helped us all keep up with trends through all these years!
More than anything, the 90's was a time of departure from the label-obsessed, consumer-heavy, strongly sculptured fashion culture of the '80's. With emerging designer collections from artists such as Pheobe Philo, Stella McCartney, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein and Marc Jacobs, the fashion world went back to the roots of youth culture and looking to the streets as its main inspiration (still going strong!). As we entered the late-90's and the impending millenium, we saw a shift to focus on edginess and advancements in technology with designers such as Alexander McQueen bringing together human and machine through fabrics and designs that required both beings.
But another thing I love about the '90's? My childhood. Here's me as a nugget playing dress-up at my grandparents' house in 1996:
Reminiscent of Jil Sander a little more than decade later, no?
Thank you to Century 21 for letting me share my love for Fashion History and for offering the goods that have helped us all keep up with trends through all these years!
This is such an awesome post- I love this idea Century 21 has come up with to commemorate their 50th! Century 21 is part of my NY style survival- because of them I owned a pair of Helmut Lang silver painted jeans in High School- at the time I didn't even know who Helmut Lang was. Century 21 has allowed many designers to reside in my closet which I normally couldn't afford. Looking forward to more Decades.
ReplyDeleteSo jealous! I love C21! I'm there every weekend since it's in my neighborhood!
ReplyDeleteawesome! congrats! love the 90s ads.
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