Ever wondered what it takes to be recognized as a true French couturier? Jean Paul Gaultier has spent his career stunning audiences and creating a name for himself in the world of fashion. Nowadays, the word couture is too often used and can represent anything from a meticulously crafted ball gown to a pair of velour sweatpants. It is only when we take a closer look at Gaultier’s work that we can recognize the true art form of what haute couture really is.

The De Young Museum will be showing its fourth designer exhibition this March and Jean Paul Gaultier is the perfect subject. Audiences can expect to be shocked by his provocative styles and wowed by his amazing design skills. He may be the shyest one in the room, but his personality is sure to shine through his collections.

Nathalie Doucet, founder and president of the Arts of Fashion Foundation, gave a lecture at the Textile Arts Council this past weekend. We learned about the life and career of Monsieur Gaultier, as well as the history of some of the most famous French couture houses in history.

Growing up in the suburbs of Paris, his life was far from glamorous. He spent much of his time watching television and reading fashion magazines. He was fascinated with the female body and intrigued by the idea of making it look more beautiful. Gaultier began experimenting by performing makeovers on his first mannequin, a stuffed teddy bear.

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Emilio Pucci, 1967. Photo Courtesy of Kishin Shinoyama.

Today’s edition of Monday Morning Photos features a few of the dresses included in ASSOULINE‘s latest stunner, The Impossible Collection of Fashion. The book chronicles the 100 Most Iconic Dresses of the 20th Century, selected by Valerie Steel. In case you haven’t heard (but we hope you have!!), ASSOULINE and the School of Fashion are holding a contest in celebration of this gorgeous book.

We are asking students, “If you could add one dress to the Impossible Collection, what would it be?”. You can submit a sketch or photograph of an original design or a dress from another designer, with a brief explanation of why you think it should be included in the Impossible Collection.

We hope these photos inspire your submissions for the contest! Good luck!

For details and rules/regulations, visit the School of Fashion’s Facebook and Assouline’s Facebook. We’ll be adding more images from the book each day, so be sure to “Like” the School of Fashion and Assouline’s Facebook pages and stay updated!

Marc Bohan for Christian Dior, 1947. Photo Courtesy of Laziz Hamani.

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We are SO excited to finally announce this contest with ASSOULINE!

ASSOULINE, a leading publisher of luxury books, has recently released The Impossible Collection of Fashion. The book chronicles the 100 most iconic dresses of the 20th century, with text by Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator of the Museum at FIT. The “Impossible Collection” includes dresses from Cristobal Balenciaga, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Yves Saint Laurent, and many more.

Contest Details:

In celebration of this book, ASSOULINE and the School of Fashion are holding a contest. We are asking all Academy of Art University students, “What would you include in your Impossible Collection of Fashion?” Students can submit a photograph or sketch of an original dress design or something created by another designer, with a brief explanation of why they think it deserves to be included in the Collection. All submissions can be sent to aaufashion@assouline.com.

Prize:

The Impossible Collection of Fashion will be donated to the Academy of Art University library in the name of the winning student, and the student will personally receive 3 books from Assouline’s CFDA Collection. This contest is only open to Academy of Art University students.

About Assouline:

Renowned for their highly original graphic concept, ASSOULINE books and luxury gift items are works of art that capture culture and bring it to life. The spirit and savoir-faire of the company have contributed to the creation of a unique and eclectic, chic and elegant brand that is immediately identifiable. ASSOULINE has published over one-thousand titles across international markets on subjects including fashion, art, architecture & design, gastronomy, photography, travel, and viticulture.

For more information & to view the entire Assouline collection, visit www.assouline.com.

Submissions for the Impossible Collection Contest will be accepted from

November 24th to December 15th, 2011

For details, rules, and regulations, visit www.facebook.com/academyofartfashion and www.facebook.com/assoulinepub

 BONNE CHANCE!

Below are some of the gorgeous dresses included in the Collection.

Today we bring to you the second installment of our new column, Instruct/Influence, in which we will be chatting with the amazing instructors at the School of Fashion. Hiding underneath that school teacher exterior, there lies a bounty of hidden gems -  some of the best fashion tales you’ve never heard. Our directors and instructors have worked with the best in the biz and have some amazing sartorial stories that we could only dream of, so we wanted to share some of those amazing experiences with you. For our second edition, we sat down with Assistant Director of 3-D Design, Rob Curry.

What did you study and where?

I went to Leeds University, not the big famous ones in London. But I always say I started learning when I left. My basic training from there on was a two year apprenticeship with a couturier called Bruce Oldfield, not a lot of people know him over here, but he’s been around for over 35 years and is very well-known in London and Europe. He used to do a lot with Princess Diana and sort of the old aristocracy, its not young its more older, conservative but immaculately made pieces.  And from there I went on to Vivienne Westwood. So that is what I really call my proper training – post university.

What drew you to couture as opposed to other types of design?

I’m a maker, I always have been by nature. I don’t really draw, I’m not a 2D person, and I always just loved it. At school I always enjoyed the making side of it but hated the portfolio side of it. I always felt frustrated at school because it was all about putting it on paper, the concept and thinking in 2-D. So that’s why the apprenticeship was like, wow, I’m learning.

How did you get the job at Vivienne Westwood?

She was always somebody that I completely adored and loved, you know she was always my favorite designer. And working in London she was one of the very few people I really wanted to work for. And I was lucky, Bruce Oldfield was a very big name and very well respected. So that got me in at Vivienne. When I sent my resume in with a letter asking if they needed anybody – God this was back in ‘96. And I got a phone call from the head of studio asking me to come in for a trial. It all really worked out well and I worked there for 5 years.

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At 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21, The Textile Arts Council presents: “American Masters in Balenciaga’s Era” in conjunction with the exhibition Balenciaga and Spain, LACMA curator of costumes and textiles Kaye Spilker looks at the evolving careers of American designers from the 1930s to the 1960s. In a field long dominated by the prestige of French haute couture, a distinctive American style began to emerge during this period. Life in thiscountry during and after WWII was vastly different from that in Europe. American women felt the seductive power and glamour of the cinema. They also led an active lifestyle and more and more frequently worked outside the home. Learn how sportswear became a defining element of the American look and which designers led the way. Ms. Spilker joined the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1987 and has curated numerous exhibitions of costumes and textiles, including, with co-curator Sharon Takeda, the recent Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915.

Here are the details one more time:

WHAT? Textile Arts Council presents: “American Masters in Balenciaga’s Era”

WHEN? Saturday, May 21, 10 AM

WHERE? Koret Auditorium, de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive

TICKETS? Free to Textile Arts Council members, $5 for FAMSF members and students, $10 for non-members. Tickets available at the door. For more information visit deyoung.famsf.org.

The DeYoung Museum in San Francisco seems to be on a fashion streak, with several designer exhibitions now and in the coming months. The current exhibition, Balenciaga and Spain, looks gorgeous. When it opened a few weeks ago, Hamish Bowles, Editor-at-Large for Vogue and curator of the exhibit, gave a lecture along with Miren Arzalluz, Lourdes Font, and Pamela Golbin (try saying those names fast). Most of the lecture and the exhibit compares Balenciaga’s work to Spanish works of art – illuminating the inspiration for his designs – but I also learned several interesting factoids about the designer.

First – a few of the basics: Balenciaga was a haute couture designer in the time of Chanel and Dior, working in Paris — although he was Spanish by birth. He is known as one of the few couturiers who actually knew how to sew, rather than just sketch designs and hand them off to seamstresses. When he died, society women fainted or locked themselves in dark rooms (so dramatic) and declared that fashion was over. One of my favorite stories about Balenciaga is that he did not pay attention to trends and, instead, designed each dress for the woman wearing it, focusing on her best features.

Here’s some other facts I learned:

1.) He was over 40 years old by the time he set up his first shop in Paris.

2.) When a gown was in production, a small piece of satin was sewn inside it to show the proper direction of the grain.

3.)  Balenciaga was six years old when he made his first piece of clothing — and it was a coat for his cat. Supposedly, he disliked how much the cat moved around and switched to humans.

4.)  Although he was born to a middle class family in a small fishing village, as a child, Balenciaga hung out with the Spanish royal family. His father would give them leisure rides while they summered in San Sebastian and his mother mended their clothes. Without this exposure to the quality and craftsmanship of the royal family’s clothing, Balenciaga likely would not have become the designer he was.

5.)  At the height of the post-war Paris couture industry, the house of Balenciaga was the most profitable of all the couturiers, even though competitors like Dior were six times larger (in terms of employees).

Written by: Yasha Stelzner, MFA Fashion Journalism

For more information on the Balenciaga and  Spain exhibit, click here.

We all heard the news that French Vogue was blacklisted from Balenciaga. Even Editor-in-Chief, Carine Roitfeld confirmed, “We’re blacklisted. It’s too bad, it’s a beautiful house and it’s French. I hope that it’s not forever.”

Ghesquière takes a bow at the end of the Balenciaga Fall 2010 show. Photo credit: Style.com

Word on the Parisian street is that creative director Nicolas Ghesquière and his team at Balenciaga is pissed off at the fact that Roitfeld fired Marie-Amélie Sauvé who was a stylist for French Vogue and a very close friend of Ghesquière. That could be the root of the feud. However, many noticed that Sauvé is now on American Vogue’s masthead!

Sauvé left French Vogue for American Vogue? This is a whole new story. It could be like The Real Life Devil Wears Prada.

Another more convincing word on the street says that Carine allegedly asked Balenciaga for their samples to be shot in an editorial. Apparently, one of the coats ended up at Max Mara’s design studio and rumor says the the coat was copied and then sent back to Balenciaga. Read more…