AMERICAN DESIGNERS

A Radical Chic

Early in the decade the unisex protest look was considered high fashion. The youth made anti-fashion fashionable by taking control of their own designs, and American designers followed suit. For instance, the androgynous look was stylized by Rudi Gernreich in his line of unisex clothing that envisioned a world without gender distinctions. American designers such as Halston rejected the vestiges of formal dressmaking in the spirit of innovation. His designs did without zippers, pockets, ruffles, or notched lapels.

Designer Jeans

Nothing captures the irony of "radical chic" more than designer blue jeans. In the 1960s and early 1970s blue jeans were the universal language of people under twenty-five. Dirty, ragged, and adorned with political slogans, jeans were the quintessential anti-fashion statement of a generation. Fashion moguls nonetheless decided to capitalize on the jeans phenomenon. Designers such as Calvin Klein redesigned and repack-aged jeans into a haute couture item. These designer jeans had little in common with the youth culture jeans except denim. Instead of the peace symbols, globes, and women's liberation signs embroidered by protesters on their jeans, designers adorned their denim with embroidered logos, rhinestones, and silver studs and sold them at three and sometimes four times the cost of ordinary jeans. At Georgio's in Beverly Hills rhinestone-studded jeans sold for $100 and matching jackets for $160.

Goodbye to All That

By the mid 1970s radical chic fizzled out as did the protest movements that fueled the look. Radical chic was replaced by what was called a new American look, and that look was about leisure. A new generation of American designers took up the casual look and reinvented American fashion once again.

Sportswear

Sportswear was the most important contribution made by American designers in the 1970s. Sportswear originated out of men's leisure wear but soon hit women's fashions. Sportswear for men was defined by what it was not—it was everything that was not the traditional suit and tie and the world of work that that attire symbolized. This trend in men's clothing began after World War II, continued with the casual wear of the 1950s and 1960s, and culminated in the 1970s. "Weekend wear" had finally taken a more prominent position than "Sunday best" in the wardrobe. By the 1970s men's fashion was saturated with sports activities. Cross-country skiing, crewing in a sailboat race, or playing croquet were the fashion backdrops to emphasize the stylish versatility of these clothes.

Women in Menswear

Many women opted to dress in traditional men's clothes, and American designers gave them plenty of male styles from which to choose. Ralph Lauren gave them a range of choices: oversized shirts, vests, blazers, sweaters, pleated pants—a look popularized by Diane Keaton in the hit movie Annie Hall (1977). Sweaters, scarves, and shawls in layers were often worn under a short unstructured jacket. Women also donned the active-wear look. In 1976 designer Bill Haire offered velvet jodhpurs with a cashmere sweater, the perfect blend of men's active wear made to look soft and feminine.

What Was Popular

American designers such as Halston, Klein, and Lauren redesigned casual-dress options for women. Their collections of interchangeable separates allowed a woman to create her own look that was suitable for day and evening wear. Designers left the short miniskirt behind and introduced a line of skirts that fell to midcalf in peasant styles. When worn with boots, the look had a decidedly western feel. Comfort and simplicity were popular, and in 1978 designer Scott B arrie captured this spirit in his satin slip dress for evening wear with its elegant slit hemline. A growing interest in China inspired American designers to introduce into their offerings coolie pants, tunics, and quilted jackets in luxurious materials and colors.