The 1990’S Fashion Era Analysis
The 1990s are characterized by the rise of multiculturalism and alternative media, which continued into the 2000s. Movements such as grunge, the rave scene and hip hop spread around the world to young people during that decade, aided by then-new technology such as cable television and the World Wide Web. Fashion houses played musical chairs, the loud garish power styles declined making room for the office cardigan. And the fashion took influence from the sixties and seventies styles and a new laid back style materialized.
Silhouettes, fabrics and trends
The first 1990 cover of Vogue appeared the ultimate models of Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz smiling in minimal makeup and faint jeans. Gone were the eighties padded shoulders and escalated hair and in came a more relaxed casual style. There was a renovation of sixties and seventies styles with the bell-bottoms reappearing – eventually becoming known as the bootleg trouser and platform shoes having resurgence. Leggings replaced the tailored sharp trousers with Pucci prints being a must have trend. The long length skirt took over globally creating more elegant silhouettes. 1993 saw a new subculture which is the grunge. Starting in Seattle, USA, the grunge subculture stemmed from the style of music of Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Plaid shirts, flannel were worn with band t-shirts, hats, jeans and converse shoes. Hair was worn long. Along with the grunge style, punk saw a revival in New York, Milan and Paris with bondage short skirt, safety pins, kilts and raw textures being seen by designers.
The first half of the 1990’s saw the cardigan jacket reshaping the formal silhouette, the new shoulder was curvy and the new shape was loose. Along with tunics worn with soft, flared trousers with simplicity in mind. The slip dress was massively popular with it worn thigh high, skimming the upper body, flaring from the bust, waist or hips. The second half of the nineties saw longer skirts and alternative suits. Matching separates were more relaxed in downy shapes. Simplicity, abstinence and conceptual chic was a general theme seen at Calvin Klein, Issue Miyake, Martin Margiela and Hussein Chalayan during the late nineties. Everyday fashion throughout the decade were t-shirts tucked in high waist jeans, oversized sweaters and black opaque tights worn with dresses or white socks and trainers. Floral dresses, blouses, turtleneck tops were worn taking inspiration from the sixties and seventies.
The Fendi Baguette bag and Prada’s nylon bag were must have accessories during the nineties. Doc Martens were popular specially with the grunge style. Chokers, scrunchies and headbands were seen for everyday fashion as were backpacks. And a minimal style of hair filtered in a complete opposite from the eighties styles. The style that was popular for men during the nineties is black leather jackets, sheepskin coats, straight legged trousers and Converse All Star trainers. Aviator sunglasses and Adidas trainers were also part of the rock pop look. Baseball jerseys, graphic print t-shorts and neon trainers were worn by men while in America hip hop fashion went mainstream with tracksuits, baggy jeans, bomber jackets and gold jewelry being an accepted style. And the smart-casual trend was well liked with blazers and shirts that were worn un-tacked with khaki slacks.
In the 1990’s, the consumers focused on natural fibers and comfortable fabrics in faint colors and lots black. Cotton sales bloomed, it became widely used in apparel during the 1990’s. Also denim became a staple in everyone's daily wear, it even played a role in the creation of “Casual Fridays” in the work place. Flannel was introduced during the 1990’s and was widely popularized due to the Grunge trend. Velvet was now a go-to fabric for any occasion in the nineties. Its diversity allowed consumers to wear velvet for formal occasions in forms of couture dresses to everyday coats for casual wear. Increased popularity in wool, or fabrics that looked like wool, led to the “Cool Wool” campaign” of the early 1990’s which encouraged buyers to only purchase wool that was made out of Pure Wool. Leather and leather imitation fabrics became huge in the late 1990s in pants, short, boxy jackets and mini skirts. HistorySocial changes, economic changes and important events.
Many countries, institutions, companies, and organizations were prosperous during the 90’s. High-income countries experienced steady economic growth for much of the decade. Britain saw a fashion revival with the graduation of Alexander McQueen in 1992. His graduating collection was spotted by Isabella Blow, a stylist in Vogue which led onto his first appearance in Vogue in November the same year. Britain was in the fashion spotlight again as John Galliano made history in fashion by being appointed head of French couture house Givenchy, a decisive moment for couture in Paris.
When Gianfranco Ferre left Christian Dior, Galliano took his place. With this coup happened in the fashion world, Alexander McQueen went to Givenchy, Stella McCartney took over at Chloe, Marc Jacobs moved to Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors went to Celine. The nineties saw the public wanting to buy into the lifestyle and designer brands perceived, they wanted the makeup, perfumes and clothes of the designer.
Films were rising in the nineties, therefore The Oscars were an excellent place for designers to showcase their work. This led the High Street stores to copy Oscar fashion from the red carpet. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were seen on the red carpet in 1992 in an oversized tuxedo and short black sequined dress and. Other remarkable dresses included Elizabeth Hurley in a Versace silk crepe dress kept together with large gold safety pins at the premier of “Four Weddings and a Funeral” in 1994.
The nineties saw awn increase in the rave culture with Germany, England and America creating a new scene of dance music and new fashions. The race culture had their own uniform of short skirts, crop tops, very little clothing being worn, neon colors and glow sticks. And American TV sitcoms like Friends became very popular. Which inspired fashion trends and hairstyles, most notably “The Rachel” hairstyle. And the iconic show Sex in The City began in 1998 bringing with it a whole world of Manolo Blahnik and Louboutin’s. Some of the iconic designers of the nineties are Alexander mcQueen, John Galliano, Gianne Versace who was shot dead in 1997, his sister Donatella took over the company, Jean Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld, Thierry Mugler, Hussein Chalayan, and Calvin Klein.
