Video No. 6044. English Language Pal VHS.
An Exploration of Art on Film.
'The Age Of Dissent'.
With the 1960s came not only radically new fashions but a redefinition of the nature of "fashion" itself. In this, the third in a series of three programmes, Karl Lagerfeld analyses the keynote styles of the 1960s-80s, tracing the role of individual designers in originating and popularising fashions.
Through the adaptation of designers' ideas by clothing companies producing for mass markets, these styles became - like the mid-1960s mini-skirt - the distinctive uniform of particular periods, taking the concept of "fashion" to the opposite extreme from its earlier meaning as the favoured style of a privileged elite.
The film sets in the context of design history a rapid succession of popular recent and not-so-recent styles - from the clean lines of 1960s clothing to the transitional "maxi-coat plus mini-skirt" look of the early 1970s, followed by folk and ethnic influences and the ultimate "dissent" from fashion in punk street-style.
Leading designers discuss the varied contemporary appraises to fashion that operate in the UK, France, Italy and the USA. The American model of "lifestyle" clothes design, is contrasted with the more individualistic productions of young British designers, and the impact of the intellectual Japanese concept of design on Western fashion tradition is assessed.
This programme explores the evolution of the world of fashion to meet changing commercial and social demands, while also expressing the paradox that a single transient style can still retrospectively symbolize an entire era.
