 "Photo: Vogue")
Over the past 100 years, fashion and personal style have evolved into an art form. Fashion has become the means for ultimate artistic expression, continuously transforming itself as it reflects its time. Many fashion icons have influenced this evolution of style with their own exclusive vision of what is aesthetically pleasing. Some icons contribute to the fashion movement by designing and constructing the looks, while others use their bodies as the canvas.
Coco Chanel, born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, had made a profound impact in the fashion industry since the 1920s. Her heightened intuition, determination, and artistic vision in fashion design surfaced at a time when no one expected it. She stirred up stereotypical views of male and female attire and transformed people's perceptions of fashion. She trademarked the term "little black dress" and turned the mournful color into a new stimulating concept.
According to Ingrid Sischy of Time, "She was shrewd, chic, and on the cutting edge. The clothes she created changed the way women looked and how they looked at themselves."
Coco strived to incorporate the power of personality while inventing her own way of personal expression. She possessed an unbelievable knowledge of what women wanted and how to compliment their bodies. Coco Chanel was a revolutionary artist who set the standards in the fashion industry, influencing renowned designers and fashionistas worldwide.
Coco once said, "Fashion is not simply a matter of clothes. Fashion is in the air, born upon the wind. One intuits it. It is in the sky and on the road."
Audrey Hepburn, born Audrey Kathleen Ruston, was an Academy Award winning Belgian actress during the 1950s and 1960s, whose personal style became widely admired and influential in the fashion industry.
She modeled Coco's trademarked "little black dress" with pearls draped around her neck, personifying a balance between chic simplicity and elegance. She gave timeless style power to many pieces we see today in stores, such as flat ballet shoes, high-waist belts, oversized sunglasses, leather handbags, quarter length sleeves and trench coats. She pulled her stylish pieces together effortlessly, a skill that is highly valued by fashionistas.
Described best by her own son, Sean Ferrer, her style "was the extension of an inner beauty held up by a life of discipline, respect for the others and hope in humanity. If the lines were pure and elegant it was because she believed in the power of simplicity. If there was timelessness, it was because she believed in quality, and if she still is an icon of style today it is because once she found her look she stayed with it throughout her life. She didn't go with the trends, didn't reinvent herself every season. She loved fashion, but kept it as a tool to compliment her look."
Audrey took her own steady path towards creating personal style while exemplifying classic elegance. Her acclaimed style has been, and forever will be, recycled over the years, proving Audrey to be a monumental figure in the fashion world.
Twiggy Lawson was a pop icon phenomenon of the 1960s, known for her waiflike features, thick eyelashes, and androgynous mod looks. She was the Queen of Mod. The London born model personified the bold, brash, and innovative look of the sixties with bright hues, large patterns, and extremely high hemlines. The London Daily Express dubbed Twiggy as "the face of 1966." Her face was plastered on Elle and Vogue magazine covers and in the pop-culture mindset of teenagers throughout Britain.
Diana Vreeland, editor-in-chief of Vogue during the 1960s, described her as "both modern and romantic. She was perfect." Twiggy soon traveled over to America where she was praised as a major trendsetter. She embodied an unforeseen fashion that combined powerful modern styles on a physique that was reminiscent of the 1920s. She has forever impacted the popular notion of femininity.
Twiggy's influence is profoundly evident on the fashion runways this year and the styles of this current season. Today, she contributes to the fashion world as an "America's Next Top Model" judge, critiquing the competing models and providing her own valuable insight on the modeling industry.
The fashion world transforms itself every season while the highly respectable style icons of the century provide their superior guidance. Kate Moss, one of today's British supermodels, is continuously compared to Twiggy for her waif-like features and long legs and is claimed to have re-revolutionized modeling.
Ashley Olsen, tween star turned fashion mogul, has stated that she idolizes "old movie stars like Audrey Hepburn and Rita Hayworth - they were so stylish." She has claimed to use classic looks as inspiration. Ashley is currently working on launching her own designer clothing line called, "The Row." With Audrey Hepburn as one of her respected muses, one might expect to see her pieces embodying a sense of simplicity and timelessness. These world renowned fashion icons have provided their own unique sense of style and intuition to contribute towards the preceding and currently developing milestones of the fashion world.
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