Modernism was an art and cultural movement that embraced self-expression, individuality and experimentation in order to coordinate the arts and culture with the new ways of life in the 20th century, in particular developments such as industrialisation. In this essay, I will be talking about the significant relationship between modernism art and fashion. I will also be focusing on couture and high fashion designers in order to highlight the role that fashion played in 20th century modernism society. The designers that I will be writing about in this essay are Elsa Schiaparelli and Paul Poiret. I do understand that only focusing on couturiers working in Paris can be seen as unrepresentative of 20th century fashion as a whole, however in my opinion, they have contributed to setting the tone of 20th century modernist fashion very significantly, and I am personally quite interested in their works. Also considering the immense legacy that they have left as well as how many 20th century designers and artists for whom they have acted as inspiration, and possibly paved the way for, from my point of view both Poiret and Schiaparelli were some of the most important people in the 20th century fashion scene. In addition, only focusing on two couturiers will allow me to analyse their work and their impact on 20th century modernism in a lot of depth.

To understand the impact that fashion had on 20th century modernism we first need to understand modernist art. Greenberg in Harrison et al. (2020) argues that modernism art critiques art through art itself in order to establish it further as an institution in society. Modernist artists, in particular painters, realised the limitations of the mediums in which they worked in, and rather than improving this deficiency, they chose to embrace it. For example, impressionist painters like Édouard Manet or Paul Cézanne were considered modernist artists as well as abstract painters such as Wassily Kandinsky or Piet Mondrian. What united them in their title as modernist artists is ‘the use of the characteristic methods of a discipline to criticize the discipline itself’ (Greenberg in Harrison et al., 2009, p.774).

This same way of thinking can be applied to fashion in the 20th century. With the fashion technology industry getting more advanced day by day in the 20th century, designers had to adapt to and learn to work with what innovations which were being brought out to them, as well as establish new and progressive ways of working. Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’ as well as Mary Quant’s mini skirt were different, yet, just like the art that I wrote about in the paragraph above, both considered modernist. It may be argued that the 20th century was one of the first times in history when fashion was starting to be seen as equal to other disciplines such as art, so, in turn, when applying that way of thinking, fashion must have played an important role in shaping 20th century modernism.

As I was saying in the first paragraph, modernism was all about innovation and modernist arts were aiming to line themselves up with the innovations in society. This applies to fashion in the synchronicity between new technological innovations and innovations in fashion, meaning the developments of the first production line, and the developments of the modern fashion show were happening at the same pace, at around the same time (Evans, 2013). This is particularly interesting to me because such technological innovations and fashion innovations didn’t have much in common, however due to modernist thinking and culture in society, they were both progressing simultaneously. As well as this, fashion had the ability of traveling from one end of the word to the other through a somewhat cause and effect relationship with technology, for example ‘just as the assembly line reduced the time it took to make a car from fourteen to two hours, so Poiret’s and Paquin’s international mannequin tours, with their vast amount of American press coverage, reduced the physiological distance between the fashion industries of each continent. The immediacy of fashion, and its ability to bridge continents, positioned it at the vanguard of future sensibilities as an engine of modernist change,’ (Evans, 2013, p.58).

Additionally, Back in Barnard (2020, pp.570-579) states that ‘fashion in modernism depends on social norms, individual self-expression, technical opportunities, and the initiative of the fashion designer. The effort of modernism has been to break tradition, leading to claims of the priority of the individual over social norms,’. This evidences the thought that the 20th century was the time when fashion had ascended onto a new level, meaning that fashion as a whole was now focusing on the unique type of consumer that wanted to express their sense of style in a unique way, rather than focusing on society as a whole and only differentiating between women belonging to different social classes. This can also be interpreted as evidence for the fact that fashion did play a big role in 20th century modernism in that fashion was seen as playing an important part in shaping someone’s personal identity within the boundaries of the social norms of any given society, which was a crucial part of modernist society.

Elsa Schiaparelli was an inventive, unique and eccentric 20th century couturier. She was very influential and successful in characterising modernist fashion and was immensely talented in the creative aspect of her work, as well being quite talented in the business, promotion and networking aspect of it up to a certain point in her career. Due to the innovative nature of her work, any 20th century Schiaparelli garment or accessory can be easily recognised, which is what made her such a successful and interesting figure in the contemporary fashion scene. She started off her fashion career by making sportswear for women, ‘taking design inspiration from Futurism and Cubism, Elsa’s aesthetic reflected the stark strong lines and bold patterns and colours of those contemporary art movements,’ (Baxter-Wright, 2021, p. 22). An example of her ‘Pour le Sport’ work can be seen in figure 1, featuring tennis player Lili de Alvarez in 1931 at the Wimbledon championship. This has caused a sensation in the sports world, seeing as the outfit was quite different to what traditional 20th century tennis uniforms looked like. This is also an example of Schiaparelli’s early works being very innovative and different, which is something that sets Elsa Schiaparelli apart from all other designers of the 20th century.

After the sportswear line, Schiaparelli branched out into eveningwear, opening her Paris atelier in 1927. In spite of the economic situation of the 1930s, Elsa Schiaparelli continued to put out garments, providing ‘women a moment of fashionable escape, at a time of sombre depression. Never afraid to experiment with line and detail, she constantly offered sensational clothes in bright colours and unusual fabrics,’ (Baxter-Wright, 2021, p.32). Figure 2 is an illustration of a Schiaparelli catalogue from 1935. There is a total of seven looks, and a variety of different types of garments can be seen on the illustration, for example daywear, eveningwear and gowns. Schiaparelli’s use of colour and silhouette can be seen, as well as the character of the clothing being captured well in the illustrations. We can see the different fabrics and textures which were used and the accessories that tie the looks together. Perhaps Schiaparelli’s most recognisable garment would be the ‘Apollo of Versailles’ cape from the Zodiac Collection of 1938, seen in figure 3. The cape is embellished with golden beads and threads in different motifs, all the embellishments have a meticulous attention to detail and the cape is very opulent and luxurious. In my opinion, the ‘Zodiac Collection’ as a whole shows that not only was Schiaparelli a legendary 20th century couturier, but she was also an artist who had the ability of being able to translate artistic modernist ideas into fashion. Such skill can also be seen in her collaboration with artists such as Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dali, who are both prominent 20th century painters.

Figures 4 and 5 are images of “The Tears Dress” (1938) by Elsa Schiaparelli in made collaboration with surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. The dress was inspired by Dalí’s 1936 painting titled ‘Three Young Surrealist Women Holding in their Arms the Skins of an Orchestra’ (seen in figure 6). The painting is made in typical surrealist Dalí fashion, and the dress is directly inspired by the women standing in the middle of the composition. Schiaparelli’s dress mirrors Dalí’s painting with tears being printed onto the fabric, creating an illusion of there being actual tears all throughout the dress. The veil takes a more literal approach with pieces of fabric hanging down the tears for a more three-dimensional appearance. Another artist that Elsa Schiaparelli had frequently collaborated with is close friend and French artist Jean Cocteau. Figure 7 shows one variation of the two evening coats that Schiaparelli and Cocteau have collaborated on in 1937. The illustration was made by Jean Cocteau and the embroidery was executed by French embroidery house Maison Lesage, whose embroideries Schiaparelli has utilised in many other garments of hers. The coat is fitted and made in a silk jersey fabric, with the embroidery showing two symmetrical faces, whose side profiles’ outlines appear to be an urn, with pink roses above it. The embroidered lines going from the middle to the end of the coat are supposed to be the column that the urn stands on.

This merging of modernist art and fashion is particularly interesting because it shows the relationship that art and fashion have always had and continue having to this day. In an almost metaphorical sense, such designs by Schiaparelli in collaboration with modernist artists might say that art can’t exist without fashion, and fashion can’t exist without art, which, in my opinion shows just how vital of a role fashion has played in 20th century modernism. ‘She gives her clothes the essence of modern architecture, modern thought, and modern movement,’ (Harper’s Bazaar, 1932 in Parkins, 2012, p. 82), which shows that Schiaparelli’s garments were truly modernist in every sense of the word. The legacy that Elsa Schiaparelli’s modernist designs have left in endless and is still very often referred to in collections today by the Schiaparelli brand itself, as well as many other fashion designers who take inspiration from her creations.

Another couturier whose designs are considered modernist is Paul Poiret. He started off his fashion career by working for couturiers Jacques Doucet and the House of Worth, after which he opened his own couture house in 1906. Poiret claims to have liberated women from having to wear the corset, as well as reconstructing classical feminine silhouettes in garments. His novel and ‘outside the box’ approach to womenswear is what caused his garments to be considered modernist. Poiret did also engage with other disciplines such as a perfume company and an interior design/decorative art business, ‘“he was the first couturier to align fashion with interior design and promote the concept of a “total lifestyle”’” (Koda and Bolton in Parkins, 2012, p.48).

‘When Poiret opened his fashion house, the era known as La Belle Epoque (1900-14) was in full flow and the design style known as Art Nouveau was flourishing. Art Nouveau was characterised by lines that were curving and shapes that were free flowing,’ (Mackrell, 1990, p.19). One of the most popular undergarments at the time were S-bend corsets called the Gache Sarraute, which Paul Poiret openly disliked, calling it an ‘“abominable apparatus”’ (Poiret in Mackrell, 1990, p.20). One of his first big innovations in contemporary women’s fashion was completely eliminating the corset from his womenswear and creating a new classical line of dress, which has come to be known as the Directoire Revival. As Mackrell (1990) notes, it was inspired by the styles which were popular in 1795-1799, and it featured a strong sculptural quality as well as being inspired by classical Greek drapery, in order to highlight and compliment the contours and natural shape of the body. this was quite popular with women who could afford to buy Poiret’s clothing, with socialites such as Lady Diana Cooper and Princess Murat buying and wearing Directoire Revival fashions. Figure 8 is a side-by-side photo and drawing of ‘La Tunique Joséphine’ by Paul Poiret. The ensemble consists of a white high waisted dress and a black tulle tunic, with a rose above the waistline. The Joséphine dress is an example of the Directoire Revival, in that it is structural, the drapery has classical Greek influences, and most importantly, it is intended to have been worn without a corset.

Another aspect that influenced Poiret’s designs was orientalism, since it complimented the neo-classical nature of the designs of his clothing, with his Directoire Revival fashions quite often featuring elements of orientalism in them. With ‘the two main Poiretesque elements, a combination of sensuous colours and a fluidity of line’ (Mackrell, 1990, p.37) being displayed in many of his garments. Figure 9 is an example of orientalism in Poiret’s work, it is a theatre coat by Paul Poiret which he made in 1912. Poiret’s theatre coat, in essence, is his interpretation of the traditional Japanese kimono. Like the majority of his other clothes, the coat has a loose, cocoon-like silhouette, which isn’t figure hugging, so it doesn’t require the woman to be wearing a corset underneath. With the popularity of the Ballet Russes at the time when the coat was made, Poiret most likely had intended the coat to be worn to a theatre performance, somewhat mirroring the extravagant and oriental costumes of the performers themselves. The ensemble comes with a turban, with black feather sticking from it. Such elements of the kimono and turban can be seen very often throughout Poiret’s more orientalist styled work.

Despite being quite problematic, orientalism did play a role in 20th century modernist fashion through creating an exotic and novel aesthetic that differed from largely conservative and traditional styles that were popular in the Western world. Another characteristic that orientalism had brought to 20th century modernist fashion was the use of new colour palettes, mainly bright and vivid colours, that were used in Asian and Middle Eastern textiles. It has inspired designers to create a new visual language that was considered more globalized and contemporary, also with the developments in transport, orientalist fashion reflected the changes in the world.

However, the use of orientalism and orientalist elements in fashion was problematic as I have already mentioned, Said (1979) argues that the use of orientalism had promoted colonialist attitudes. As well as that, orientalism in fashion capitalised on exaggerating offensive stereotypes, as well as appropriating the cultures which they took ‘inspiration’ from. Designers such as Poiret took elements of other cultures without properly understanding what cultural significance such elements had, as well as not properly crediting the cultural elements which he used in his work. Due to orientalism being normalised at the time in Western cultures, it had played an important role in shaping 20th century modernism fashion. Some contemporary issues are that it led to are numerous social and political problems which are being experienced today, and additionally cultural appropriation as well as orientalism are still being used to this day by some fashion designers, who fail to understand the gravity of the issue of using such design elements in fashion.

Aside from the problematic aspects of Paul Poiret’s work, just like Elsa Schiaparelli, he did also collaborate with 20th century modernist artists on his fashion work. One of his most prominent and long-lasting artist collaborations were those with Raoul Dufy, who was a fauvist painter based in France. Dufy designed various textiles and fabric prints for Poiret, with both of their artistic styles complimenting one another; Poiret’s bold colours and innovative silhouettes, and Dufy’s vibrant colours, dynamic compositions and experimentation with different forms went hand in hand and led to years of successful collaborations. Poiret recognised the similarity in their work and said the following about Dufy in his autobiography: ‘“we had the same inclination in decoration. His spontaneous and ardent genius had splashed with flowers the green panels of the doors of my dining room in the Pavillion du Butard. We dreamed of dazzling curtains and gowns decorated à la Botticelli. Without counting the costs I gave Dufy who was then making his beginnings in life, the means whereby to realize a few of his dreams.”’ (Poiret, 1931 in Mackrell, 1990, p.53). Figure 10 is an image of an evening cape done in velvet fabric which Dufy had designed for Poiret. True Poiret and Dufy fashion can be seen in this evening cape, the oversized and bold silhouette of the cape can be attributed to Poiret, and the eye catching and experimentative print on the fabric can be attributed to Poiret. This collaboration between Poiret and Dufy is one way of showing the role that fashion has played in 20th century modernism, even though fashion and art are two similar but in many ways different disciplines which developed in different ways throughout history, whenever the both are merged they can truly make significant changes, developments and just all in all engaging and interesting products for the public to consume.

In conclusion, it can be stated that fashion has played a significant role in 20th century modernism. Couturiers Elsa Schiaparelli and Paul Poiret helped to ascertain the foundations of the visual aesthetics of 20th century modernist fashion, through their innovative ways of looking at fashion as well as making garments. Their cutting-edge way of making garments, their fabric innovations, and their artist collaborations were some of the aspects of their work that make them truly modernist fashion designers. Back in Barnard (2020, pp. 570-579) argues that ‘fashion, even its aspect as a craft, faces the same task as the artists who produced modernism, namely, to mediate a place for the individual in an increasingly complex mass society,’. Fashion was as important as any other aspect of 20th century modernism, with many different theories arguing that fashion had the important function of self-expression for individuals in society, as well as being a form of art that acted as inspiration for many more decades to come. Without fashion the act of self-expression and individualism would be hard to conduct, so 20th century modernism would have not been the same without the presence of fashion in it.



Bibliography:
Barnard, M. and Back, K.W. (2020) ‘Modernism and Fashion: A Social Psychological Interpretation’, in Fashion Theory: A Reader. London: Routledge, pp. 570–579.
Baxter-Wright, E. (2021) Little Book of Schiaparelli. London: Welbeck.
Evans, C. (2013) The Mechanical Smile: Modernism and The First Fashion Shows in France and America, 1900-1929. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Ewing, E. and Mackrell, A. (2014) History of Twentieth Century Fashion. London: Batsford.
Harrison, C., Wood, P. and Greenberg, C. (2020) ‘Modernist Painting’, in Art in Theory, 1900 - 2000 An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 773–779.
Mackrell, A. (1990) Paul Poiret. London: B. T. Batsford.
Miller, L.E. (2017) Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion. London: V&A Publishing.
Parkins, I. (2012) Poiret, Dior and Schiaparelli: Fashion, Femininity and Modernity. London: Berg.
Said, E. (1979) Orientalism. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
Wilcox, C. et al. (2009) 20th-Century Fashion in Detail. London: V&A Publishing.