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The First Fashion Designer
Who invented fashion?
Scientists can’t quite agree when we (humans) started wearing clothes. It may have been 33,000 years ago or even as long as 170,000 years ago. It’s impossible to tell who first came up with the idea of putting on leather or fur to keep warm, evade disease, camouflage themselves or even a attract a partner. Perhaps there existed a virtuoso ‘fashion designer’ in early humanity, the first person ever to craft a garment – sadly, the identity of this creative person is destined to remain a mystery, forever hidden deep in human history.
What we do know is the identity of the first modern fashion designer – Charles Frederick Worth. He was an English gentleman born in October 1825. This man is credited with two important ‘fashion firsts’ – he was the first to use live models, thus inventing the fashion show. He was also the first to sew branded labels into his clothing.
So without Worth, perhaps we wouldn’t have catwalk shows or branded clothing!
He was the ‘first couturier’, the ‘father of haute couture’ and the first person to come up with the ‘princess line’ dress. He invented the ‘walking dress’, too. In short, he innovated a lot of the fashion we see today.
So who was this person?
CHARLES FREDERICK WORTH
Worth was born in the Lincolnshire market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, England. His family became rather impoverished which meant the children had to enter the workforce early – in Worth’s case, he found himself working in a printing shop aged just 11. The boy had to work hard, but one of his employers must have seen promise in this hardworking, intelligent youngster, because at age 12 he was taken on as an apprentice at Swan & Edgar, a London department store. Could it have been here, amongst the elegant ladies of London society, that young Worth’s interest in fashion began?
He stayed at Swan & Edgar until he was 19, then Worth was hired by Lewis & Allerby, a British fine textile merchant. Now Worth had experience of fashion and textiles – the scene was set, and Worth’s determination grew along with his ideas. Just two years later, aged 21, he made an incredibly bold move.
No Money, no French… no Problem
With just £5 in his pocket and zero French language on his lips, Worth nevertheless followed his instinct and headed to the beating heart of fashion – Paris. Astonishingly, he found work as a sales assistant at a prestigious retailer of silk, cashmere and fur mantles, Gagelin-Opigez & Cie.
Worth was an unstoppable force. It was his destiny to design, and although he did not come from money, or a fashion family, he now found himself in Paris, sewing original-design dresses to complement Gagelin’s fur mantles. His employers were impressed and let him open a dressmaking department in the store.
The House of Worth evolved from there. Worth, his French wife Marie Vernet Worth and their business partner, Swedish Otto Gustaf Bobergh established Worth and Bobergh on their own premises, in 1858.
THE HOUSE OF WORTH IN PARIS
FUR MANTLE DESIGN OF WORTH
THE SALON OF CREATIONS
Marie Vernet Worth has been called ‘the first ever fashion model’, because when she modelled her husband’s designs, she was literally the first living lady to officially model a designer’s work.
MARIE VERNET WORTH
His success was all about great marketing (or as the MET puts it “aggressive self-promotion”) and perfect timing! Worth fully utilised fashion journalism.
He opened his salon at a time when the Empress was a very fashion-forward person, who kept Worth on-call to design dresses for all her many, varied events. The fashionable Empress was an example for all and many other society woman followed, so much so that Worth’s Parisian salon – House of Worth – became a social and fashion hub; a meeting point for all of the wealthiest and best-dressed people in Europe. This was in fact another fashion first – previously, couturiers would attend ladies in their own homes, but Worth introduced the fashion house where clients would come to him, instead.
Today, many designers are adept at using celebrity contacts – perhaps none more so than Dolce and Gabbana – also Balmain, Dior and more. But back in the 1800s, Charles Frederick Worth was the first to do this! Although not voluntarily, he knew and lived the commercial value of having a prominent celebrity fan base. In France, at the time there was no-one more stylish than Empress Eugenie. She had fashion columns following every step of her fashionable heels, which absolutely made Worth more popular.
Columns and magazines, such as the popular ‘Godey’s Lady’s Book’ followed the Empress’s fashion choices, and as Worth had become her official dressmaker he was directly responsible for her wardrobe. As her dressmaker, Worth was certainly kept busy – for one event (the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869), Empress Eugenie ordered 250 Worth dresses!
He Created More ‘Wearable’ Fashion
Worth’s clients appreciated his designs not only for their beauty, but because he reshaped fashion with wearability in mind. On the suggestion of his star client, Empress Eugenie, he designed the ‘walking dress’ which was ankle-length. It was a little scandalous at the time but nevertheless the practicality made it popular. Worth also redesigned the shape of ladies dresses, which were becoming so wide that people found it difficult to sit down and walk through doors! Worth restructured popular design, adding more volume to the back and less at the sides, for ease of movement.
THE SHAPE OF THE CRINOLINE
EMPRESS SISSI IN A DRESS OF WORTH