Y3 Clothing Analysis

8/7/2019 Y3 Clothing Analysis

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A N A N A LY S I S O F T W O P I E C E S O F F A S H I O N D E S I G NM A N U F AC T U R E D S I N C E 1 9 5 0 A D D R E S S I N G TA S T E ,

S TAT U S A N D G E N D E R

The two pieces that I have chosen to discuss in this essay are my own clothes, that for the

purpose of writing this analysis I actually wore today. The first piece is a grey wool Christian Diorama

jacket and the other, a black promotional Apple t-shirt. Here I will be analyzing both garments - each

designed with very different purposes, a different customer profile and at completely different price

points - and considering them in terms of taste, status and gender.

The first piece we will consider is the grey Christian Dior Monsieur Jacket (Fig.1).

In October 2007 I visited the “Christian Dior and the Golden Age of Couture” Exhibition at the

Victoria and Albert Museum. This

was my first exposure to the work

of Christian Dior, Christobel

Balenciaga and the others featured. I

had seen and admired the work of

Yves Saint Laurent but did not

readily associate it with “the Golden

Age of Couture” and so I decided

that I would find a piece for myself

that I associated with the

craftsmanship, the tailoring and the

elegance of the work of Monsieur

Dior. Weeks of eBay browsing went

by and I bought my first Dior piece

- a medium blue shade tweed wool

Brendan Madden - 3rd Year - Tutor: Hilary O’Kelly - Fashion & Textiles Essay - 10 March 2009

Brendan Madden 3rd Year Fashion and Textiles Essay An Analysis of two pieces of fashion or textile design since 1950 1

F i g . 1 . G r e y C h r i s t i a n D i o r M o n s i e u r M e n s

J a c k e t



suit - which I

didn’t really like

too much. It

was too flashy

and felt more

like something

that Gordon

Gekko would

wear on Wall

Street, and it

conjured up

images not of

couture and

quality fashion,

but of fast cars,

cocaine and

thousand pound

bottles of

champagne

over lunch. I

was more

discerning in my

purchases from

then on, sticking

to black single



F i g . 2 . G r e y C h r i s t i a n D i o r M o n s i e

u r M e n s J a c k e t

- C l o s e - u p o f s l e e v e s h o w i n g w e a

v e s t r u c t u r e .

Fig. 3 Grey Christian Dior Monsieur Mens Jacket - Close-up of sleeve showing

surface colour and texture.



breasted jackets

and suits, and

eventually

found this grey

single-breasted

wool jacket, late

in November

2007.

The Jacket

appears at first

glance to be

constructed

simply from a

grey wool plain

weave, but

there is much

more to it than

that. It is actually

a herringbone weave (See Fig. 2. which shows a close up of the sleeve and where the weave structure

is apparent) and is not just grey, but also orange and blue (See Fig. 3 which shows a close-up of the

surface of the jacket). The first place I looked for information other than the material qualities of the

piece, was on its labeling. The main label bearing the Christian Dior Monsieur brand-mark (Fig. 4) is on

the inside Right Hand Side of the Jacket and there is a pocket behind it containing the other labels

(Fig. 5 & Fig. 6).



Fig. 4. Main Label bearing brandmark: Christian Dior Monsieur. Jacquard Woven

lining featuring CD (Christian Dior) logo is visible behind label.

Fig. 5. Woolmark label and compositional details.

Fig. 6. Size label and Model Number



The label featuring the Christian Dior Monsieur brand-mark (Fig. 4) is a jacquard weave with large

areas of satin weave and a twill border in white thread which unusually for Dior Monsieur is bevelled.

This could help provide some clue to when it was designed as it is different from all my other Dior

jackets in this way. The label is folded at the edges and stitched onto the lining by machine.

The labels inside the pocket feature the Woolmark (previously International Wool Secretariat)

logo (fig. 4) which could, if we had no idea at all of production date, provide us with the information

that it was made after 1964.

The Woolmark logo was designed by Francesco Seraglio in 1964. Configured in the fashion of a Möbius strip, the grouping of three elements appears to intertwine like a

skein of wool. The overall shape is soft yet stable, by vir tue of the secure base of the

triangle and the generously radiused points. The reflection of positive and negative

shapes and spaces allows for details without compromising reduction capability. This

mark remains compellingly friendly and contemporary after more than four decades.

(Gernsheimer, 2008, pp.111)

The smaller label sewn onto the inside face of the lining inside the jacket provides us with

information on the size of the piece and features a serial number of some sort - 71506 (Fig. 6).

Each label signed "Christian Dior" had a special number permitting instant identification

of models sold in France and abroad. Consumers dissatisfied with garments could

return them to retailers, and the Christian Dior wholesaling operation could

subsequently discipline the manufacturer. (Okawa, 2008, pp.91)

In order to consider the garment in terms of taste, status and gender, it is necessary to provide a

contextual backdrop to its production. The accompanying fact sheets (Tables 1 & 2) provides

information about the pieces and about their ‘lineage’. It is necessary here of course, to assume the

garment is genuine and not counterfeit. Grossman and Shapiro’s 1998 study of consumer awareness

and counterfeiting provides some insight into this assumption, asserting that counterfeited goods are,

on close inspection or on continued use, demonstrated to be of a far inferior quality to the original





item and of course, available for a far lower price, although as this garment was purchased second-

hand the latter does not apply in this case. (Grossman & Shapiro, 1988, pp.81, 82)

Christian Dior himself never produced a menswear collection, and it was not until Marc Bohan

[very unenthusiastically - “I hated going into the men’s depar tment,” Bohan said. (Murphy, 2007, pp.26)]

designed his first menswear collection in 1970 that the brand of Dior was fully accessible to men.

Previously men’s accessories had been made under license, and interestingly, the licensing of men’s

garments had been sanctioned as early as 1954.

During the very early years of Maison Dior, design and merchandising were carried out at the Paris headquarters. From around the world, high-end retailers and

manufacturers seen as worthy of producing and selling Maison Dior's products were

signed on as licensees beginning in 1949. Between 1946 and Dior's death in 1957,

Maison Dior expanded the firm's core businesses by opening specialized branches and

entering licensing agreements with manufacturers. In France, Maison Dior established

subsidiaries to produce and market a wide variety of lines... menswear in 1954.

(Okawa, 2008, pp.89)

The type of men that the Dior Monsieur brand was targeted at was wealthy middle-aged men

who admired the style and quality of Dior. The focus was initially on fit and comfort, then moved more

and more towards tailor ing and enhancing of the figure, the notion that clothes were designed to

please the wearer and viewer, and in 1992 upon his appointment as Creative Director of Christian

Dior Monsieur, Patrick Lavoix said “The only legitimacy of designing clothes is through the desire to

please” (d’Aulnay, 1992). ‘At the time, in fact, much of the Dior men’s business was licensed, presenting

a tricky leviathan to homogenize. Bernard Arnault, head of Dior parent LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis

Vuitton, started to scale back licenses in the mid-Nineties to modernize the house and make it a more

profitable business.’ (d'Aulnay, 1992). The radical change at Dior Monsieur came in 2000 when Hedi

Silmane, previously the menswear designer at Yves Saint Laurent was appointed Creative Director.

Men’s wear existed at Dior long before Hedi Slimane. But it was a radically different

business, founded on traditional tailoring and sporty outfits more fit for the yacht club

than the dance club. “We were a very classical and traditional house,” said Patrick





Lavoix, who oversaw Dior’s men’s business before Slimane was hired in 2000. “That

was our clientele.” (Murphy, 2007, pp.26)

Silmane came to Dior with a vision of something very new, and immediately changed the name

and connotations of Dior Monsieur, replacing them with a new brand, Dior Homme. Initially the two

sold side-by-side but Silmane dropped Dior Monsieur after one year.

Before Slimane’s arrival, the men’s business was substantial and global, but mostly

licensed and associated with a mature, bourgeois clientele...With his electrifying debut

Dior show in January 2001...Slimane began constructing a new brand based on

modernist rigor and youthful verve....And Slimane is unrepentant if people assume his

clothes can only be worn by the very young and the very thin. “I really don’t care,” he

stated. “It’s not so much about being skinny or not. The sense of fit and propor tion is

what is important.…In men’s wear, a lot of things became tighter, so everybody thinks it’s normal….You just have to try it. When I started at YSL, I was asked all the time

about comfor t. No one asks anymore.” As for any accusations of ageism in his design

approach, Slimane retorted, “Older people want to look younger. Vitality comes from

young people . You can’t fight that.” (Socha, 2007, pp.26)

At that time, however, French menswear was at a low ebb. In comparison to American

sportswear, British bespoke tailoring or Italian suiting, the French didn't have a

distinctive menswear style of their own. For that, Slimane blames the English. The 18th-

century craze in France for English-style tailoring destroyed the last vestiges of the

fancier Gallic look. More recently, he says, "There wasn't really a French tailoring

tradition. We didn't have that. We lost the tailors. It was a disaster. The French fashion

houses never thought that men's fashion would be possible. They couldn't see how it

would make money. When I started at Saint Laurent, people were sceptical. They've

started to understand it, but it's quite recent." (Rushton, 2004)

From the mid 90s onwards, Dior Monsieur suits and blazers made for sale in Europe were

constructed mostly in France. Most other menswear, Shirts, etc were still licensed for example to a

Japanese manufacturer, but Dior were star ting to source their shirts within France. This indicates that

my jacket was probably made before then.

As Murphy says in 2007, prior to the arrival of Silmane, Dior suits were aimed at a very particular

clientele with a very particular taste. This grey wool jacket evokes a sense of the casual, relaxed but

elegant dresser. I normally don’t wear my jacket with a shir t and tie, and if I do, the shirt is fully open

and there is a dark t-shirt underneath. Normally I wear the jacket with a similarly colored grey light





cotton zip-up hoodie and in fact, I almost consider the garments to be one piece. The juxtaposition of

these two very different garments at two very different price points is a successful one as they

complete each other. The combined weight of the garments is quite surprising though and this limits

the activity one can pursue whilst wearing them. The structured tailoring of the jacket works well with

the loose flowing knit of the hoodie which itself acts almost as a lining to the piece and provides extra

warmth without making the look too casual. I believe that together with the hoodie, this jacket speaks

for my own taste, for tailoring and structure but also for comfor t. The grey wool is an incredibly

successful piece as it doesn’t ever appear dull but at the same time isnt’ flashy or showy. The piece also

represents my status by

suggesting that the fashion

that is accessible to me is

somewhere between high

street and high fashion but

it is not fully either. The

gender that the garment

conveys is very masculine

and for this reason I have

chosen to photograph it

not on a man or a woman

but on its own as a piece

where it speaks for itself

without the visual aid of

actualized gender.



F i g . 7 . J a c k e t w i t h

g r e y h o o d i e a s w o r n b y m e



The second piece that I have considered in this assignment is a black t-shir t (Fig. 9) which I was

given for free as part of my job as the Apple-on-Campus representative for NCAD. First, we will

consider this purely on its qualities as a garment, as a t-shir t. It is a reasonably good quality 100%

cotton t-shirt, made in the USA and is all black with a screen-printed logo

motif of an Apple with a leaf and a piece eaten from it. This brandmark

(Fig. 11) was created in 1997 by Steve Jobs (First used in the PowerBook G3

of 1998) and is based on the original Rainbow colored Apple brand-mark

designed by Rob Janoff in 1977 (Fig. 8)



Fig. 9. Black 100% Cotton T-Shirt featuring screen-printed Apple Logo

Fig. 8. Original Apple brand-mark



Secondly, it’s intended purpose aside, the t-shir t is seen by Apple fans as a collectors’ item. Apple

branded non-computer products are only officially available for sale at the Apple Company Store (Fig.

10) in Cupertino which I visited in 2003. Along with Apple branded garments, the company store sells

a plethora of other Apple branded goods, merchandise, books and promotional posters.

These products serve to reinforce the Apple identity and stretch it into a truly ‘whole lifestyle’

brand offering.

The logo motivates consumption when attached to watches, T-shirts and other

commodities by way of a process I call "branding." Branding both shifts the concept of use-value from the actual product to its brand image, and also identifies the product

relative to the chain of signifiers constituting its brand "family." (In the same way

ranchers brand livestock with the sign of their ranch.) Products branded in this way

offer membership in a kind of private club, where the only privilege offered is

belonging. (Oswald, 1996, pp.59)

Because consumers value visibility, they are willing to pay more for a product that has a

stronger brand image or that is more widely recognized by others. The increase in

consumer willingness to pay for a brand stretcher's product depends, therefore, on the

relative difference in brand recognition between the brand stretcher's product and an

incumbent's product. (Pepall & Daniels, 2002, pp.540)



Fig. 10. The website of the Company Store



The items are generally of a very high

quality and reinforce the notion that

Apple branded computer goods are

of a higher quality - both in terms of

workmanship and aesthetic- than

competing brands which could not

get away with selling such blatantly

promotional items.

Although both the pieces considered in this analysis are designed, produced and distributed with

totally different aims, and in very different markets, they actually express of the wearer, and evoke

within the viewer very similar tastes, statuses and genders. In terms of status, the Dior jacket more

inherently so as the label is only seen by a viewer when the jacket is open or removed and it relies on

its quality of fabric, cut and construction to convey this status. The apple branded t-shirt is obviously

not made by Apple and aimed for sale in the same way as their computers are, but at the same time,

the Dior (ready-to-wear mens) jacket is not aimed at and marketed in the same way as the Dior

Couture that gives the jacket its brand premium. In terms of taste, both reflect a casual dress-code but

a taste for quality brands and products, they suggest different outworkings of that taste. The Dior

jacket suggests an aesthetic that is minimal, unfussy and discrete, whereas the Apple t-shir t suggests a

wearer that is brand loyal, tech savvy and young. The same t-shir t worn on an older man would look

boyish and out of place unless the wearer has a distinct claim to the taste expressed that is unique

and not mimic-able by others of a similar age, build and cultural background - the same can be said for

Bono’s sunglasses.



Fig. 11. Detail of Screen-printed Apple Logo on knitted

surface of t-shirt



I here propose another function of branding and advertising content, namely, that

consumers can use brand choice as a way of signaling to each other. Briefly, the

argument is as follows. Much social interaction is based on signs whose meanings

derive from convention (use). When a product is consumed in public, then brand

choice could be used to send a signal. (Wernerfelt, 1990)

Let us return lastly to gender. Both pieces are undeniably masculine. The cut and tailoring of the

jacket if worn by a woman suggests a very particular taste and a particular attitude to gender, but

when worn by a man does not suggest a variation on the wearer’s notion of gender, but a

reinforcement of it. The Apple t-shirt can be worn by a man without being noticed but when worn by

a woman would evoke curiosity and would appear somewhat out of place. It is a shapeless and

masculine garment in itself and this even with the apple logo not present would quieten the sexuality

and gender of a woman by concealing her shape.





W O R K C I T E D

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http://www.designmuseum.org/design/christian-dior







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List of Illustrations:

1. Grey Christian Dior Monsieur Tailored Menswear Jacket

2. Close-up of sleeve showing weave structure on jacket

3. close-up of sleeve showing surface colour and texture

4. Main label of jacket bearing brandmark

5. Woolmark label

6. Size and model label

7. Jacket as usually worn with grey hoodie

8. Original Apple Brandmark

9. Black Cotton Apple-branded t-shirt

10. Apple Company Store Website

11. Detail of Apple Logo on t-shirt



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Y3 Clothing Analysis