Fashion Dictionary
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A Continuous Lean.com
A Continuous Lean is an American lifestyle blog covering anything from interior to fashion design. Their motto: Keep it simple. More good, less bad.
A-Line
The fashion term 'A-Line' is mostly used to describe a certain type of clothing, usually a dress, skirt or coat that is shaped like the capital letter 'A'. It is slim-fitted at waist and flares away towards the knees. First interpreted and used by French couture designer Christian Dior in 1955, the A-Line works well on most figure types but it is perfect for disguising bottom-heavy figures. See also Dior's H-Line & Y-Line.
Abboud, Joseph
Joseph Abboud, Lebanese-American menswear fashion designer and author, born 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts. Abboud started his fashion career as a 16-year-old working part-time at Louis Boston before graduating from the University of Massachusetts-Boston in 1972. The designer also worked for Ralph Lauren in 1981 as the associate director of the menswear collection before he established his own namesake menswear label in 1986.
Abercrombie & Fitch
Abercrombie & Fitch aka: ANF, American retailer, founded in Manhattan in 1892. It is widely known for its provocative marketing approach, featuring half naked male and female models as their salesclerks. Abercrombie & Fitch focuses on casual wear for consumers between 18 and 45.
Accessories
Fashion accessories are mostly decorative items that you adapt with your outfit, such as handbags, sunglasses, jewelry, gloves, hats, belts, watches, scarves, tights, leg warmes, leggings, stockings, bow ties, neckties and suspenders. (more)
Accordion Pleats
Accordion pleats are a certain type of pleats that look like an accordion. It consists a full series of folds that is caused by a full circle of fabrics. First introduced in the 1880s by Loie Fuller, accordion pleats are seen in garments such as skirts, pants and dresses.
Ackermann, Haider
Haider Ackerman, French fashion designer, born in 1971. Ackermann founded his namesake womenswear ready-to-wear fashion line in 2001. His designs are known for his simple cuts, abstract work with leather, sophisticated look and avant-garde draping.
Adidas
Adidas AG, German-based sports company and manufacturer. It consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-adidas golf company and Rockport. Besides offering a huge variety of sports footwear, the company also sells other sports related products such as sportswear, sport bags and accessories. The parent company of the Adidas Group is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe.
AF Vandevorst
AF Vandevorst, Belgium fashion label, founded by the husband-wife duo An Vandevorst and Filip Arickx in 1997. Their namesake main line AF Vandevorst is a complete women's ready-to-wear line comprising of handbags, shoes and accessories as well as a complimentary collection called: A FRIEND by AF Vandevorst, a line with more affordable prices.
agent 011
agent 011, New York-based multi-label fashion showroom, founded in 2005 by Jeremy Lindberg and Veronica Cardenas. It only represented high-fashion ready-to-wear collections from Dallin Chase, Obakki and Song but also cutting edge jewelry and accessories from Fenton & Fallon, Fiona Paxton, and shiny, super gloss, architectural shoes from New York-based designer Ruthie Davis. The Showroom went out of business in 2010.
Aghion, Gaby
Gaby Aghion, Egypt-born, French fashion designer, born in 1921. Aghion established her own fashion label called 'Chloé' in 1952 in Paris, France. She's been credited to have invented the phrase 'Prêt-a-Porter' which means 'Ready to wear' in English. Aghion remained the brand's Creative Director until 1985, when 'Chloé' was sold to the Richemont Group. Today, 'Chloe's' collection is diversified in ready-to-wear, children's wear, accessories and fragrances.
Alber Elbaz
Alber Elbaz, Moroccan-born Israeli fashion designer, born in 1961. He is best known for his role as the creative director of the French fashion house Lanvin since October 2001. Back in 1998, Elbaz started creating ready-to-wear women's clothing for Yves Saint Laurent. He quickly became the head designer of the fashion house when Saint Laurent retired.
Aldo Shoes
ALDO Shoes, Canadian footwear company, founded in 1972. The retailer offers trendy, affordable shoe designs and accessories for both, women and men.
Alexander McQueen
Lee Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer, lived from 1969 to 2010. McQueen was known for his unusual, dramatic and unconventional designs with shock tactics. The designer only got 41 years old since he committed suicide in February 2010. In 1996, McQueen worked as the head designer at Givenchy for five years before he founded his own labels - Alexander McQueen and McQ. His "right hand" Sarah Burton took over the reins after McQueens death in 2010.
Alexander Wang
Alexander Wang, American fashion designer, born in 1984. Wang launched his namesake women's wear fashion label in 2007. He is known for his edgy, somewhat masculine women's wear designs. His fashion shows are renowned as being a highlight of the New York fashion week. Since December 2012, Alexander Wang is also the creative director for the fashion house Balenciaga.
Alexis Bittar
Alexis Bittar, American jewelry designer, born 1968 in Brooklyn, New York. During his study Alexis made his money by selling antique jewelry and vintage clothing on the streets of Lower Manhattan. At age 22, he decided to design his own line of costume jewelry, influenced by the antique collectible he grew up around. In 2004, Bittar opened his first jewelry boutique, located in SoHo, New York.
Alice + Olivia
Alice + Olivia, American womenwear, ready-to-wear fashion label, launched in 2002 by Stacey Bandet. What started as Stacey's personal quest to create a flattering pair of form-fitting pants, had grown to a full women's ready-to-wear collection, including outerwear, dresses and a variety of perfect fitting pants.
Alix Grès
Alix Grès, French Haute-Couture fashion house, founded by Germaine Émilie Krebs in 1942. Krebs, who was a trained sculptress and lived from 1903 to 1993, was also known as Alix Barton or Madame Grès. The fashion house started off under the name Alix Barton with simple draped silk jersey dresses that showed the influence of her training as a sculptor. After the fashion house had been shut down during WWII, Grès started creating her famous Grecian pleated dresses and later tailored women’s suits with incorporated wrap. With some of her customers being the Duchess of Windsor, Marlene Dietrich and Jacqueline Kennedy, Grès didn't want celebrities to wear her clothes, but women of culture. Her signature is hand-draped pleats, a bias cut away from the body and Greco-roman influences such as togas and capes
AllSaints
AllSaints aka AllSaints Spitalfields, British fashion retailer, founded in 1994 by Stuart Trevor and Kait Bolongaro. The London-based fashion brand began selling only menswear to wholesale prices to luxuries high-end retailers. Just one year later, AllSaints expended its brand with their womenswear collection. Meanwhile, it also sells footwear and accessories in several department stores and specialty boutiques across the UK, Europe and US.
Allure Magazine
Allure, women's beauty-based magazine, founded in 1991 by the magazine's editor-in-chief Linda Wells. Allure celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2006 and is published monthly by Condé Nast in New York City.
American Look
The "American Look" describes a distinct style or outfit. It consists of pants with straight legs, shirts with long pointed collars that are mostly worn hanging out of the pants instead of tucked in, broad shoulders and floral ties.
Amy Smilovic
Amy Smilovic, founder and head designer of the fashion label Tibi. Smilovic came up with the idea of her own fashion label while living in Hong Kong, where she was inspired by the local culture and textiles. The New York-based fashion label was founded in 1997 and is today found in stores, boutiques and upscale department stores worldwide including Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Net-a-Porter, only to mention a few.
Andersson, Lars
Lars Andersson, Swedish knitwear designer. His namesake fashion label is based in New York City. The brand is known for its plain, urban knitwear styles.
André Oliver
André Oliver, French fashion designer, lived from 1932 to 1993. After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts and serving the French Army, Oliver joined the designer Pierre Cardins as his right hand and fellow creator and helped him expand his young business. Oliver worked as the head of the design team and designed the fashion house’s haute couture. The young designer also worked on Cardins first men’s collection, which was a big success in Europe and the US. The collection, that is based on the Edwardian look revolutionizes men’s fashion in England and the US in the 1960’s.
Angled Pocket
An angled pocket is a pocket with an entrance that is neither horizontal nor vertical, but angled. One of the most common ones is the 1/4-top-pocket, found on pants.
Ann Demeulemeester
Ann Demeulemeester, Belgium fashion designer, born in 1959. She is the founder and creative mind of her successful namesake fashion label. What makes her different from other fashion designers is that she always creates her designs in a very dark, punk and almost scary way.
Anna Dello Russo
Anna Dello Russo, Italian-born fashion director of Vogue Nippon (Japan). Dello Russo approaches fashion through a distinctive quirk: she combines her outfits down to the smallest detail, as they were represented on the runway. Due to her amazing sense of fashion, she's become a fashion icon across the world.
Anna Sui
Anna Sui, American fashion designer, born in 1952. Sui founded her namesake luxury fashion brand in 1991 and is well known for her timeless designs. Her collections are often inspired by her different historical and cultural interest.
Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour, British fashion editor, born in 1949. She is the editor-in-chief of American Vogue Magazine since 1988. Wintour became interested in fashion as a young teenager. After she'd dropped out of school at the age of 16, Wintour made it to New York where she later got hired by well known publications such as "New York Magazine" and "Home and Garden". (more)
Anne Fogarty
Anne Fogarty, American fashion designer, lived from 1919 to 1980. Fogarty started her design career in New York working as a model for the dressmaker Harvey Berin, who offered to train her as a dressmaker. Later she worked for Sheila Lynn and other fashion houses before getting a job at the Youth Guild that makes teenage dresses. Here she developed her Dior-inspired signature look of a full skirted dress worn over petticoats, later known as the paper doll silhouette, which had not been fashionable since the Edwardian Era. (more)
Anne Klein
Anne Klein, American fashion designer, lived from 1923 to 1974. Klein is the founder of her namesake women's sportwear and apparel line Anne Klein. The fashion label was established in 1968 and was continued after her death by Donna Karan as a head designer in 1974. In 1985, Karan left Anne Klein to focus on her own line. Anne Klein and Co is currently owned by Jones Apparel Group.
Anthropologie
Anthropologie, American retail store chain, owned by Urban Outfitters, Inc. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the brick & mortar offers women's ready-to-wear clothing and accessories and home furnishings.
Antonio, Michael
Michael Antonio, fast-fashion footwear brand, founded in 1970. It offers contemporary dress shoes for fashion-conscious women around the world to affordable prices. Michael Antonio's trademark: sexy, modern, and edgy. The brand appeals to a broad range of women offering anything from stilettos, to sophisticated pumps and chic flats.
Apparel
Apparel is just another word for clothing or garment. It is simply the term used for anything you wear to protect, wrap, or beautify your body.
Apron
An apron is a piece of garment that is especially designed to cover and protect the front of the body. They usually were worn in the 13th century by both men and women. Today, they are also worn as a decorative accessory.
Arden B.
Arden B., retailer of contemporary and fashionable classic apparel & accessories, headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California. Its customers are young, successful and sophisticated women with a simple, sexy and chic feel.
Armani
Giorgio Armani aka Armani, Italian fashion designer, born in 1934. The designer founded his namesake fashion company in 1975 and was particularly noted for his menswear collection. Today, the Giorgio Armani brand is known for its clean, tailored lines and has 4 different diffusion lines: Emporio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Armani Jeans and Armani Exchange.
Armani Exchange
Armani Exchange, successful lifestyle and fashion line that belongs to the Giorgio Armani brand. Launched in 1991 in the U.S and well known for its provocative marketing ads, Armani Exchange offers their wearer a combination of street style and classic clothes to affordable prices.
Arnault, Bernard
Bernard Arnault, French businessman, born in 1949. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of LVMH, a large luxury goods conglomerate consisting of over 60 luxury sub-companies, including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi. According to Forbes and Time Magazine, Bernard Arnault is the world's 7th richest person and one of the 100 most influential people in the world."
Arthur S. Levine
Arthur S. Levine is a partner of fashion designer Elie Tahari. Since October 2011 the duo is also the investor of French fashion designer but New York-based womenswear label Catherine Malandrino. Levine concentrates more on licensing and other categories while Tahari is the creative head designer of the brand.
ASOS
ASOS, UK largest fashion & beauty online store, founded in 2000. Headquartered in Camden Town, an area in North London, the store offers women's and men's clothing, footwear and accessories for a target group between the ages of 16 and the mid 30's.
Audigier, Christian
Christian Audigier, French fashion designer and entrepreneur, born 1958 in Southern France. Audigier founded his clothing brand Ed Hardy in 2004 and immediately gained international fame after using licensed artwork of tattoo pioneer Don Ed Hard. Before establishing his own brand, Audigier had been working as a fashion designer and entrepreneur, consulting over 100 fashion labels worldwide, including Diesel, Levi’s and Lee. He sold Ed Hardy in 2011 to the Iconix Brand Group for an estimated 62 Million Dollars.
Azzedine Alaia
Azzedine Alaia, Tunisian couturier and shoe-designer, born in 1940. The designer is working in fashion since the 1980′s. By 1988, Alaia had opened boutiques in New York, Beverly Hills and Paris. Known for his enticing clothes, the media gave him the nickname: ‘The King of Cling’. To this day, the Tunisian-born designer fights down any attempt to get acquired by one of the huge luxury conglomerates and continues his successful work as an independent fashion designer.
