WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Who Was the First Fashion Designer?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren bob Obam here with an episode from

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<v Speaker 1>our podcasts archives. Not so long ago, clothing fashions came

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<v Speaker 1>and went, but there was no such thing as fashion

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<v Speaker 1>brands or designers. Today's classic delves into how all that

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<v Speaker 1>changed due to one innovator in the eighteen hundreds. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren vog obam here. It's hard for me

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<v Speaker 1>to imagine myself or most of my friends and neighbors,

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<v Speaker 1>let alone someone like Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge,

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<v Speaker 1>designing their own dresses. But that's what all women did

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<v Speaker 1>as recently as the nineteenth century Royalty and common are alike.

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<v Speaker 1>There had never been such a job as fashion designer.

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<v Speaker 1>Then Charles Frederick Worth arrived on the seed and created

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<v Speaker 1>literally translated it means high dressmaking, and the fashion design

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<v Speaker 1>industry was born. Opator refers to garments created for a

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<v Speaker 1>specific client. Ashion houses such as Chanelle and Christian Duore

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<v Speaker 1>are official hook coutur establishments because they meet specific requirements,

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<v Speaker 1>which include designing made to order clothes for private clients

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<v Speaker 1>via more than one fitting, having a full time staff

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<v Speaker 1>of at least fifteen and presenting collections of at least

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<v Speaker 1>fifty original designs to the public twice annually. Worth came

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<v Speaker 1>up with the idea of fashion designers and fashion houses

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<v Speaker 1>in the middle of the nineteenth century. An Englishman born

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<v Speaker 1>in eight Worth worked for textile merchants as a young adult,

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<v Speaker 1>where he learned all about fabrics and dressmaking. He eventually

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<v Speaker 1>relocated to Paris, where he secured a job with company

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<v Speaker 1>that sold luxury textiles. Itching to design his own garments,

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<v Speaker 1>Worth approached management with a novel idea, create a new

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<v Speaker 1>department within the company dedicated to designing and producing dresses,

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<v Speaker 1>and allow Worth to be the designer. It doesn't sound

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<v Speaker 1>shocking today, but management bulked. Dressmakers were not well regarded

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<v Speaker 1>back then and mail designers were virtually unheard of, but eventually,

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<v Speaker 1>in eighteen one they agreed. Soon Worth was heralded as

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<v Speaker 1>a talented tastemaker and clients sought his opinion on fashion.

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<v Speaker 1>In eighteen fifty eight, Worth left the textile company and,

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<v Speaker 1>together with Otto Beaubat, opened his own company, the Parisian

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<v Speaker 1>based House of Worth. His designs typically featured lavish fabrics

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<v Speaker 1>and trimmings. Not surprisingly, he also obsessed over proper fit. Soon, Worth,

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<v Speaker 1>who considered himself an artist, began insisting clients accept his

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<v Speaker 1>vision and designs even if they disagreed, although some deemed

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<v Speaker 1>him a bit of a tyrant. Client's acquiesced and the

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<v Speaker 1>profession of fashion designer as we know it today was born.

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<v Speaker 1>Worth dissolved his partnership with Boubat in eighteen seventy one,

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<v Speaker 1>and the House of Worth was solely his. By this time,

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<v Speaker 1>he counted Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon the third, as

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<v Speaker 1>one of his patrons. Her influence helped boost his career,

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<v Speaker 1>and eventually he was dressing other prominent women of the day,

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<v Speaker 1>including famed stage actor Sarah Bernhardt and opera star Nellie Melba.

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<v Speaker 1>The Englishman's contributions to the field also include being one

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<v Speaker 1>of the first fashion designers to sew his name into

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<v Speaker 1>garments and to create maternity wear. Owen Worth died in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen sons Gaston Lucien and Jean Philippe took over the operation.

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<v Speaker 1>At first business was good, but the powerful House of

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<v Speaker 1>Worth began losing its footing during the twentieth century. The

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<v Speaker 1>House of Paquin acquired the business in nineteen fifty and

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<v Speaker 1>by nineteen fifty two. The Worth family was formally out

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<v Speaker 1>of the business when Worth's great grandson Jean Charles retired,

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<v Speaker 1>but the House of Worth wasn't quite dead. The business

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<v Speaker 1>was bought and sold several more times over the years,

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<v Speaker 1>resuming cotour operations in the late nineteen sixties and again

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<v Speaker 1>in the early twentyeens. Many of Worth's garments are still

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<v Speaker 1>around today, and fashion buffs can see them at museums

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<v Speaker 1>all around the world, including the Costume Institute, which is

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<v Speaker 1>part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as

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<v Speaker 1>London's Vienna Museum and the Museum at f i t.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article who started Coutur

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<v Speaker 1>on how Stuff Works dot com, written by Melanie rod

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<v Speaker 1>Zekie McManus, an association with fashion historians April Callaghan and

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<v Speaker 1>Cassidy Zachary of the podcast Dressed. To hear more about

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<v Speaker 1>Worth and here from guest Highland Booker, lead designer for

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<v Speaker 1>the Worth Fashion House in the late nineteen sixties, Tune

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<v Speaker 1>into Dress this episode founding father of Oak Tour, Charles

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<v Speaker 1>Frederick Worth, available wherever you find your podcasts. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of our Heart Radio in partnership with

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com and is produced by Tyler

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