Archive fashion – a power game between international stars

Cyclically, fashion trends come back every 20 years. Along with the “fast fashion” storm, this makes believers always strive to keep up with the times. However, despite Y2K’s “aggression” over the years, Balletcore being popular with young people or Quite Luxury covering the wardrobes of “old money”, Archive Fashion is still proud of its throne position. own solid gold.

Archive fashion – a power game between international stars

Of course, as a throne, only a king who is capable of both social status, money and power can set foot in this position. Especially in 2022 and the aftertaste of the Met Gala “Oscar of the Fashion Industry” after-party, Archive Fashion continues to become the target (even though it has been for centuries) of international stars. Whoever opens the most wardrobes of fashion houses wins!

Many people still mistakenly believe that “Archive” and “Vintage” have the same meaning. Therefore, whenever a star wears something in a collection from decades ago, people assume it is “archive fashion”.

To clearly distinguish between these two concepts, “Vintage” means classic. In fashion, this is a word for items that are decades old. However, with Vintage items, you can easily own them if you find a reputable address or auction on commercial sites such as TheRealReal, ThredUp, etc.

“Archive” are typical designs presented through in-season collections, which are trend-setting, and associated with a period in the history of the fashion house. Just like Vintage, Archive includes items that have been released for a long time. However, in addition to its age, Archive also carries the history of the brand. They are experimental designs, marking a great innovation, even a transformation through each creative period of the brand in particular and of the world fashion in general.

While Vintage can be exchanged, bought, and sold, Archives are items that are carefully kept by the brand as treasures to keep and pass on to future generations. Once the design has been put into the archive it is very difficult to retrieve. You must be a designer following in the footsteps, or a character with an extremely close relationship with the brand, with power and strong influence in society. Otherwise, you will not have the opportunity to step foot in the archives, let alone dream of wearing these precious designs on you.

Archive Fashion is often inspired by different art forms such as painting, music, architecture, sculpture, etc. Even designers can use the collection to tell stories, and express opinions, and languages. speak about the current economic and political situation.

In 1924, Madame Coco Chanel launched a tweed pattern with meticulous needlework and stitches, applied to the design of jackets and skirts. The fabric pattern quickly became popular and became a symbol of elegance and luxury for women for more than 100 years. That is also the unique DNA code that Madam left for the Camellia fashion house.

Or Christian Dior is famous for its elegant New Look “monument”, returning classic femininity to post-World War II women. Immediately after its launch, this collection became one of the classic designs that changed the history of world fashion. So far, New Look has never gone out of fashion and is always on the “dream list” of fashionistas.

And John Galliano – a “crazy man with British nationality” has brought all his monstrosities into Dior’s DNA, to “filter the blood” and open the most glorious era in the history of the French fashion house. If Sir Christian Dior brought elegance into the “New Look” silhouette dress, then Galliano used that inherent femininity and elegance to “rip off”, free the body and bring people to the pinnacle of brocade. silk is.

They are aristocratic dresses inspired by historical love stories, ghostly fairy towns, or the jungle in Shakespeare’s literature; those are futuristic designs of maximalism with intricately attached details; those are magical but romantic bridal gowns… What John Galliano dedicates to Dior,

Each brand will have a separate “DNA code”. The design is stored like a solid tree for the designers to use, continuously creating works based on the “roots” that the predecessor left. The creators of this code must be geniuses whose brains are ahead of their time so that decades later, that design will never be “outdated”.

Behind each item in the archives is a process of research, hard work, and creativity, embodying history with rich heritage values and having a great influence on constructivism and design thinking. of posterity. They are expressed through experimental techniques such as stitching, stitching, fabric texture, color coating, etc.

And Dior has a “mansion” of storage, which is the Dior Heritage building located on Avenue Montaigne. Here, they display and house thousands of specimens from the time of Christian Dior to the reigns of creative directors Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, and Raf Simons. In it are models of dresses, tops, shoes, hats, and even sketches that are well preserved and preserved.

Or Chanel has a warehouse in the northeastern suburb of Paris on Cheval Blanc Street (in the province of Seine-Saint-Denis), which requires about 15 people and holds more than 50,000 products. It stores classic designs such as Chanel Boy handbags, two-tone shoes, Breton tops, Little Black Dresses, tweed shirts…

Besides, some famous brands with massive archives such as Yohji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood, Balenciaga, Helmut Lang, Alexander McQueen, Junya Watanabe, Raf Simons… even Nike and Adidas have their own special Government Archive Fashion.

It is also because of its unique value that luxury brands understand the importance of preserving the core values of each design. So every year, they do not regret pouring tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars to preserve the works in their original state. Some brands will host designs in national museums, which have good facilities and high levels of security.

The process and conditions of product preservation are very strict. Each product will have its own storage environment, but usually at a humidity of 40-50% and a temperature of 18-20 degrees Celsius. Especially, it must be avoided absolute direct sunlight to keep the product in its original form. as well as minimize damage during storage.

Once in the brand’s archives, the design is no longer a regular piece of apparel that can be bought and sold again and again. Because they are the embodiment of contemporary fashion history, clearly reflecting the styles and trends of the era they represent. Most of all, they are an existential treasure that carries the weight of the names of the industry’s great designers.

Since 2021, archival fashion has become an inconclusive game between international stars. One of the characters who pioneered the trend of storied fashion shows must mention Kylie Jenner. Billionaires born in 1997 are constantly favored by fashion houses to open archives on the red carpet such as Thierry Mugler Autumn-Winter 1999, Jean Paul Gaultier 1987, Versace Spring-Summer 1992…

Singer Zendaya is also a star with an admirable archive. Before taking on the role of Brand Ambassador of Louis Vuitton, she was the “darling” entrusted by luxury fashion houses to a series of archival designs when attending red carpets such as Versace Spring-Summer 2003 at the ceremony. BET Awards 2021, Valentino Spring-Summer 1992, 67-year-old dress by Balmain, Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent…

Needless to say, the recent Met Gala is a testament to an underground power struggle party between the characters in attendance. Although the topic is inspired by the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, not everyone can afford to open the storage cabinets of the fashion houses that the old man used to be attached to. More than 200 of the world’s top stars attended, but only the following names were able to log into the archive: Gisele Bündchen, Nicole Kidman, Dua Lipa, Naomi Campbell, and Irina Shayk.

Stepping into the archives is one thing, getting the fashion house to open the closet to lend you things is another. To be able to put on these valuable original designs, the wearers are not only people with status in society, they also have to have a close relationship with the fashion house, hold the power, and have the power. strongly influenced the world fashion village. Furthermore, they need to make sure they return the work intact and without causing any damage during use.

Despite the luxury and power, not everyone is conscious enough to ensure that in the process of using the costume without causing any damage. If you mention it, you must also point out the name. As much as Kylie Jenner makes brands cool and cool, Kim Kardashian’s sister disappoints fans. Remember in 2022, Kim defied her size to try to squeeze into the dress Marilyn Monroe wore when attending former President John F. Kennedy’s birthday in 1962.

After the event, the design was iconic. This statue was badly damaged. The buckle part was torn, the diamonds attached to the skirt were also wingless but flew all over, the dress straps were torn, almost broken… The incident made the whole world angry about her extravagant behavior ” Billionaire and lawyer”, an American businessman.

Either way, Archive Fashion has always been an extremely subtle measure of the intersection of fashion, culture, and history. It is also the unique ego of the designer when putting his heart into the creation that only those who really understand and truly appreciate can understand the value and weight that those fabrics bring.