It was inevitable that my blog would feature fashion related posts, but it has taken me some time to decide how to begin to tackle such an important part of my life. It became obvious that the best place to begin, with any subject, is at the beginning, so this post relates to fashions first great designer, the often overlooked Rose Bertin!
I suspect the majority of you, even those dedicated fashionistas amongst you, will never have heard of Rose Bertin, but she is perhaps the single most important figure in the history of the multi-million dollar fashion industry! Marie-Jeanne Rose Bertin was born on the 2nd July 1747, in Picardie, France, the daughter of a humble police man, but she was to rise to be the worlds very first fashion designer, dressing some of the most important women in Europe, including the eternal fashion icon, Marie-Antoinette.
Rose Bertin was perhaps the first couturier who's fame was to eclipse that of even her most famous clients, and to continue long after many of them had lost their heads to Madame Guillotine, long before the days of Coco or Donatella... Her unique belief that the price of a gown should not only cover the cost of materials and labour, but, like great works of art, should be based on the creative talents of its designer, is still a central principal of today's fashion industry. Without Rose Bertin a piece of beautiful couture would not cost upwards of ten time the amount of a high street basic, regardless of the cost of raw materials. Rose Bertin's unprecedented relationship with Marie Antoinette allowed her to revolutionise the garment making industries, long before the French people revolutionised their government. Bertin created for the Queen a constantly changing wardrobe, in an era when people would wear the same gowns over and over for the entirety of the lives. The Queen's desire to lead new styles, rather than follow them meant she commissioned Mademoiselle Bertin to create several radically new looks for her a year. Bertin's, continually innovative creations for the Queen, were avidly copied by the women of France, and the world, nobody wished to appear out of style, and what the Queen of France was currently wearing was considered the epitome of style. and so the concept of "fashion" was born! Paris long looked to as the leaders of civilised society, with the aid of Rose Bertin's shop, The Grand Mogul was cemented as fashion capital of the world, a status the city still holds today!
I hope this short post has inspired some of you to find out about a figure from history that I am so passionate about, and who's ideas are still so relevant to the fashion industry, several hundreds of years later. I could talk about this subject for hours, but I shall refrain, I could, however, recommend several books to those who are interested, and to those who aren't, I can only promise my next post shall be more current!
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