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- [00:02]
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- [00:28]
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- [00:55]
Cassidy Zachary
Last the History of Fashion is a production of Dressed media. With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day we all get dressed welcome.
- [01:12]
April Callahan
To Dressed the History of Fashion, a podcast that explores the who, what, when of why we wear. We are friends, fashion historians and your hosts, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary.
- [01:24]
Cassidy Zachary
Hello dress listeners and welcome to the first Fashion History now of Season eight. Hello April.
- [01:31]
April Callahan
Hello dress listeners. We have missed you so much. So much so that we're bringing you Fashion History now to update you on all the latest Fashion History now happenings that have happened while we have been on hiatus for a few months.
- [01:44]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, and of course not all the fashion history happenings because this would be a 15 hour episode. But we've each chosen three things of our very long list and actually we are going to work really hard to bring these to you regularly once a month. At least once a month this season. Because we love doing these episodes. We inform you about things like museum exhibitions that we've seen or that are coming up, books that are coming out, Instagram accounts that have to do with fashion and fashion history that we want you to follow. And there's just always so much happening about fashion history today that we love to share with you and April. We are actually as this episode airs, we are currently in New York City conducting our fashion history tours of New York.
- [02:26]
April Callahan
Speaking of fashion history now.
- [02:28]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, exactly. We are now in New York together and we actually have a lot of news of our own coming your way in our very first newsletter which we sent out last week. And dress listeners, if you are not on our newsletter, please head to dress history.com and join that list because we're so excited. We've been promising you this forever, right April?
- [02:48]
April Callahan
Yes. So finally, it has come into fruition, thanks in part to our assistant, Aaron.
- [02:53]
Cassidy Zachary
So, and basically, once a month, we're going to send you a newsletter that, of course, will apprise you of things happening in the dress universe. But also we're going to take you into little segments called Cassidy's Closet and April's Armoire, where we take you behind the scenes of what we've been working on and share some insider insights into that with you. So we hope you'll join us in our newsletter.
- [03:14]
April Callahan
And yes, you can sign up for the newsletter@dressedhistory.com and we will, of course, put. Put a link in our show notes to that.
- [03:21]
Cassidy Zachary
So, April, there's so much fashion history news that you and I have actually not even talked about. Donatella Versace stepped down from Versace after decades helming what was once her brother's company. He, of course, tragically died in the 90s, and she took over and has been the head of that company. And something I'm actually really eager to talk to you about that we haven't talked about that recently happened is that Demna is finally leaving Balenciaga, perhaps one of the most controversial designers to ever helm one of these luxe heritage haute couture houses. He's finally gone. And dress listeners, if you've been listening to the show, you know how April and I feel about.
- [03:59]
April Callahan
Yeah. Particularly me.
- [04:01]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah.
- [04:01]
April Callahan
So there's been a lot of chitter chatter within the contemporary fashion world about who's going to go where right next. And obviously Demna, we already know, is going to Gucci, which a lot of people who are Gucci fans also have had some things to say about. But my favorite thing that has been said is what you texted me, Cass, the other day, and you said, what if Galliano goes to Balenciaga?
- [04:25]
Cassidy Zachary
Right.
- [04:26]
April Callahan
And I was like, oh, my God. Because he has the. I feel like he has the rigor and the knowledge and the respect.
- [04:34]
Cassidy Zachary
Respect is key here because that is.
- [04:38]
April Callahan
To really pull that off.
- [04:39]
Cassidy Zachary
And that is what so many people have said about Demna is he just does not respect the legacy of Balenciaga, who was a maestro of cut and design and who was such an incredible master of the art and craft. And to do what he did with that historic brand was just inexcusable for many of us, especially those who have followed Balenciaga since he started his house in, what, the 20s or 30s? Come on. So, anyways, the first thing I actually want to talk to you more about in depth, April and dress listeners, is the fact that Rosita Missoni passed away in January at 93 years old. And I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge her because we don't often remember and Balenciaga is a case in point that there were and are real people behind some of these really iconic fashion brands that we know and love today. And I love the story of Missoni because it is rooted, as you know, April, in a great love story between its founders, Ottavio and Rosita, who many of our listeners may remember from our Olympic fashion episodes, that they met at the 1948 Olympics. Ottavio was competing with the Italian track and field team alongside his brother Giorgio. And what was so cool about these two is not only were they these stellar athletes, but they were activewear designers. And following World War II, they went into business together creating wool tracksuits which they and their fellow Olympic teammates had actually worn at the 1948 Games. But Ottavio unfortunately did not leave the Olympics with any medals from the Games. But he took away something far greater. And that was his future. Exactly. This chat chance encounter with his future wife, who was then a 16 year old student by the name of Rosita Gel Mani, who is sitting in the stands watching. And so Ottavio and his teammates invited Rosita and her friends to lunch. And what can we say, right? The rest is fashion history. The couple was married in 1953. They set up a workshop continuing their production of tracksuits until they moved into the production of their now signature knitwear clothing, which was really, actually quite, quite novel at the time in fashion. And they showed their first knitwear collection in Milan in 1958. And then by the 60s, they had just blown up to become this international success and really built this family empire selling their now signature brightly colored knitwear designs. And then their three kids took over control of the business in the 90s and still helmet to this very day.
- [07:03]
April Callahan
So still a family biz.
- [07:04]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, still a family biz, still an iconic brand in the history of fashion. And I'm glad that we could honor Rosita in a small way today.
- [07:13]
April Callahan
Oh, that's great. I love that. Another very interesting brand that was quite colorful and blew up in the 1960s, also began as a very niche sportswear brand. Did you know that Emilio Pucci was first a ski wear designer?
- [07:26]
Cassidy Zachary
I did know that. Which is so fun and fabulous.
- [07:30]
April Callahan
And you know what, we have not done a Pucci or a Missoni episode. So maybe that's a good duo combo.
- [07:35]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah. And actually Italian fashion history in general, I Think could be a really good episode. So, yeah, Italian fashion history coming your way, dress listeners in the future.
- [07:44]
April Callahan
Yes, Season eight. Season eight. Okay, I have a very interesting collab that and dress listeners, we always tell you guys this, that we don't talk about what we're going to talk about before we do these fashions a lot of the time. Interestingly enough, it's also about Italian fashion and I am a tad behind the times in this news. But bear with me for one second because this is going to go somewhere where you guys don't think it's going to go. But Cass, have you heard about this leather bracelet that Prada did in collaboration.
- [08:16]
Cassidy Zachary
With Amex Amex, the credit card company, correct? No, I have not.
- [08:23]
April Callahan
Okay, so for Amex Centurion cardholders, AKA the Amex Black, right, It's that elite invite only credit card. There's practically no spending limits, has all these white glove perks, et cetera. You can't apply for it, you have to be offered it, right, as a customer. So I recently saw somewhere on the Internet that Prada had done a version of their Saffiano leather bracelet that was embedded with the MX black card holders credit card information. So basically instead of tapping your phone with Apple Pay, when you go to tap, you just tap your bracelet. And I was like, oh, I love that. You know, why are we not doing this more in terms of fashion wearables? So I started digging around a little bit and found out that Prada had actually done this back in 2021. So this is a bit outdated information. And also that made me think of the fact that sometimes here in nyc, if you go to a certain club, they don't accept credit cards or cash at the bar. You have to get a bracelet, then you take over to the machine, you connect it to your card, and then anytime you want to go to the bar, you just tap your bracelet. So this tech absolutely already exists. People are using it, Cash, you probably use it. You have an Apple watch. So of course this is already happening. But this started me down the rabbit hole of other payment wearables that are out there on the market currently. There's more than a few companies doing this. A lot of the wearables are in the form of watches, rings or bracelets. And a lot of these companies are not US based. A lot of them are UK or EU based. But by far the most unusual that I found was a UK shirt maker called Dress Code who is making quote, the world's first contactless payment shirt, end quote, the cash cuff shirt. And it is essentially exactly what it sounds like. They have a removable chip that is connected to a prepaid AMEX card that allows you to just tap the cuff of your dress shirt as you would your phone or your watch. And as they say, quote, a cash cuff shirt allows you to make contactless payments directly from the cup of your shirt. No phone, no wallet, no problem.
- [10:41]
Cassidy Zachary
Unless someone steals your shirt or your ring or your bracelet. That's all I can think about as someone whose credit card was just stolen for the 15th time or whatever. Digitally, that's the first thing that comes to mind. So they address that at all in terms of, and that is a pun.
- [10:56]
April Callahan
Intended in terms of, like, how would anybody really know? I mean, it would have to be in your most intimate spaces to steal your jewelry or your shirt.
- [11:03]
Cassidy Zachary
Right?
- [11:04]
April Callahan
But I, I did, I wanted to learn more about how this all worked. You actually will remove the chip from the cuff if you're going to launder or iron it. And then you just, it's super easily replaceable. You just put it back in and go about your day. And if listeners, if this is not enough to perk your interest, I also have to say I was a bit impressed that each of these shirts is handmade to order, tailored to the client's individual measurements. And also we love this for sustainability reasons. Also, they're made from 100% sustainable Indian cotton. And to offset shipping impacts, they plant a tree for each shirt sold. This is going to set you back about $200 for a custom dress shirt with this wearable tech in it. And I don't think that's completely insane because custom dress shirts are expensive, especially when they're tailored for your measurements.
- [11:54]
Cassidy Zachary
Absolutely.
- [11:55]
April Callahan
More of this kind of stuff, please. This is not an ad. They're not sponsoring this mention, nor do they even know about it. But you can check out what they do if you're interested@dress codeshirts.co.uk the fashion.
- [12:09]
Cassidy Zachary
Future is now, dress listeners.
- [12:12]
April Callahan
Yeah, fashion history now.
- [12:13]
Cassidy Zachary
And April is here for it.
- [12:16]
April Callahan
What do you have for us next?
- [12:18]
Cassidy Zachary
Well, I'm not going to the future. I am going way back in the past. Because, you know, April, we're headed back to the Middle Ages, so why not adopt some medieval hair practices in the process? Okay, so this was actually the reasoning behind a post by one of my favorite Instagram accounts, heir Historian. I don't know if you follow her, April, but you should. It's a fantastic account about hair history and she recently shared five very real medieval hair recipes and be Warned listeners. Lizards and insects are used in this beautifying process. And this actually comes from these medical texts from the 12th century. And she basically is quoting a group of three texts on women's medicine that were composed in the southern Italian port town of salerno in the 12th century. So for our black haired beauties that are listening, if the woman wishes to have long and black hair, take a green lizard and having removed its head and tail, cook it in common oil, anoint the head with the oil and it makes the hair long and black. Okay, I had no idea.
- [13:28]
April Callahan
Is it any green lizard? Is it a specific type of green lizard that has some sort of secretion in its skin? There might be actual science behind this, we don't know. Hard to say.
- [13:39]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes. And for blonde hair, cook down dregs of white wine. This is a little more achievable with honey to the consistency of ceratum, which she makes a note, is a pomade or ointment. And anoint the hair if you wish to have it golden.
- [13:52]
April Callahan
That's not so far off Diana Vreeland's recommendation in one of her why don't yous to wash your blonde child's hair in dead champagne.
- [14:01]
Cassidy Zachary
Exactly. For white hair. So for whitening the hair, catch as many bees as possible in a new pot, set it to burn and grind with oil and then anoint the head. And for more hair, so that hair might grow wherever you wish, take barley bread with the crust, grind it with salt and bear fat. But first burn the barley bread with this mixture, anoint the place and the hair will grow.
- [14:25]
April Callahan
Was there any feedback as to if this actually worked?
- [14:28]
Cassidy Zachary
I'll look in the comments after I finish. And finally, for long hair, grind root of marsh mallow with pork grease and you should make it boil for a long time in wine. Afterward put in well ground cumin and mastic, which I don't know what mastic is, and well cooked egg yolks and mix them together a little after they have been cooked, strain them through a linen cloth, set it aside until it becomes cold, then take the fatty residue which floats on the top and having washed the head, well, you should anoint it with it. So let's see what people in the comments said. Charlotte says, oh, splendid. Been wondering what to do with the lizard without head nor tail that's been sitting in my fridge. Many people have heard of this, the trotola conditions of women, treatments for women and women's cosmetics. Apparently it's a well known text or weller known text of the medieval variety. But no, it does not look like anybody in the comments has actually went ahead and tested all, though I'm sure there are people on YouTube who have, because as we know, there are many people who've done, for instance, Victorian hair practices.
- [15:31]
April Callahan
18Th century. Exactly. Yeah. So the American Duchess Ladies have a book that's entirely on that and 18th century hair care practices and also recipes in there as well.
- [15:42]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, absolutely. So hopefully that brought a little brevity as well as fashion and cosmetics history to you today. Dresslisters.
- [15:54]
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- [16:20]
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- [16:21]
Cassidy Zachary
Priceline. Wow, this house is cute.
- [16:26]
April Callahan
But can I really get in the game in this economy? I do have savings and I am responsible. Ish. I should bury it. I'm being wild. But what if I'm not being wild though? Could I actually Score a kick off.
- [16:41]
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- [16:56]
April Callahan
So I just want to say that I, Cassidy, knows this well. I am on my own personal debate if I should personally leave Instagram as a platformer or not. I have not yet decided, haven't made up my mind, and while we were on hiatus, I saved up so much good content from Instagram that it seems not fair to not share it with all of you. So I also have an Instagram follow recommendation and this topic comes directly from her. And that is cast you follow at Refashioned Hippie.
- [17:27]
Cassidy Zachary
I do not.
- [17:28]
April Callahan
Oh you should. Maggie has her name. She delivers daily doses of scathing commentaries, fearless feminist banter, and general kind of levity on the topic of the fashion industry, which, let's face it, takes itself too far too seriously sometimes. I often laugh out loud at her takes, and one of her latest was about luxury condoms. Oh yes, friends, there are fashion brands out there that have dabbled in this branded prophylactic game in the past and many of these were projects from several years ago, as my research revealed. For instance, Marc Jacobs was selling branded condoms at their stores as early as 2008. And that's according to Racked. So there was like actual primary source articles about this. And also YSL under Anthony Vaccarello in 2018 was selling condoms at their concept store in Paris, at least, if not other ones as well. And really these were little inexpensive promotional items. They would be priced at a dollar or two dollars or a dollar or one euro two euros. But my point is now that they have turned into collectible items, of course.
- [18:45]
Cassidy Zachary
They have, as everything in luxury fashion does.
- [18:50]
April Callahan
So after I saw Maggie's post about this, I started poking around a little bit to find that a whole host of YSL condoms are up for resale on the resale site Grailed, and they're selling anywhere from 19 each all the way up to $125, which a reseller just posted this one 25 one a few days ago. So this is not like they've been sitting there. And also I find that's a bit wild considering the fact that the expiration date on latex condominium.
- [19:21]
Cassidy Zachary
So I was just about to say.
- [19:23]
April Callahan
Yeah, it's three to five years, so almost all of these are almost certainly expired. Who's going around collecting these? That's what I want to know. And then I also found some information and also misinformation out there about Chanel and Louis Vuitton condoms. And it seems, according to an article in GQ that I found, there's plenty of images of them out there on the net and people are also reselling them. But I don't think they were produced by the brands themselves. They were produced by rather mischievous pranksters, it seems. So just know that if you do see those on resale sites, I don't think they were officially produced by those fashion houses.
- [20:05]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, if you are a luxury condom collecting Beware of Chanel and Louis Vuitton fake condoms.
- [20:14]
April Callahan
This is a recommend to follow Maggie at Refashioned Hippie for some of my personal favorite fashion satire out there on the Instagram. But also a probably a 1010 not recommend that you buy and use these luxury condoms friends.
- [20:29]
Cassidy Zachary
Well, that segues somewhat nicely into my final topic, which is about luxury vintage fashion goods you can and should purchase, perhaps and are still usable, let's put it that way. Have you had a chance to read or see any of the coverage of the Vogue April issue 2025?
- [20:48]
April Callahan
Not yet, nope.
- [20:50]
Cassidy Zachary
So it's actually really amazing. It's Almost entirely dedicated to celebrating vintage fashion, which is fabulous.
- [20:56]
April Callahan
Oh, nice.
- [20:57]
Cassidy Zachary
For instance, there's an article on British vintage dealer Carrie Taylor, who we're all very familiar with. And she's actually having an upcoming American auction stateside in New Jersey with the personal collection of famed model Peggy Mo, who recently passed away. So that is sure to be an incredible auction. She's of course a really famous model from the 1960s muse and model to Rudy Gernreich among many fashion designers. And then there's an article about Amanda Harlick, who dress listeners, if you don't know who she is, she's pretty famous in fashion historian world. But she's really a well known fashion creative consultant I guess you could call her.
- [21:34]
April Callahan
So she was instrumental with McQueen from the very beginning.
- [21:38]
Cassidy Zachary
McQueen, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Fendi, and. And that article's about her personal relationship to vintage that started in the 1970s when really vintage was not the hot commodity it is today. So you could go to a thrift store and find like 1920s beat a gowns. Or remember Hamish, when he was on the show talked about finding a Balenciaga jacket at thrift store. And this article was paired with a fashion shoot which was really wonderful, featuring famous vintage from the 90s and 2000s by the likes of Stephen Jones, comme des Garcon, Prada. But my personal favorite piece from the entire issue has to be Annie Lebovitz, quote unquote, Jazz Age Fantasia photo spread starring Gigi Hadid, who is Vogue's April cover star. It accompanies an article about the quote unquote, many lives of Gigi, who's a supermodel. Of course. She made her modeling and Vogue debut at the age of 19 in 2014. She's enjoyed meteoric success. This is her sixth Vogue cover. But sorry, Gigi, sorry Annie, and please take no offense, but you are all actually the least interesting things about this article for me.
- [22:44]
April Callahan
She said what she said, friends.
- [22:46]
Cassidy Zachary
Because from a fashion history perspective at least, this article is really wonderful because for one, it's an homage to the 1920s jazz age. So it's refreshingly full of not just 1920s inspired contemporary fashion from today. So you have things like Dior and Maison Valentino, contemporary recreations or homages to the 20s, but it actually has genuine 1920s fashion pieces, including a few from the collection of Lauren Lapierre, a vintage vixen who we are huge fans of.
- [23:17]
April Callahan
Hello, Lauren.
- [23:18]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, one of the most prized high end vintage designer fashion collections and resellers out there. And she actually recently has been posting about it because the Vogue stylist Alex Jordan Harrington flew her out to New York for this photo shoot for a couple days to use a couple of her 1920s pieces. There's also this really exquisite poiret blue velvet cape that the origin from is not cited, but it's phenomenal. Again, not even the most exciting part for me. The most notable element of this editorial, April, is the story it tells, with several of the images serving as a tribute to the pioneering fashion photographer Edward Steichen, but most importantly, model Marian Morehouse.
- [23:59]
April Callahan
Oh, yes.
- [24:02]
Cassidy Zachary
So Hadid is embodying Marian, who Vogue tells us was one of Steichen's muses. But she is so much more than a muse. And this is where I get on a little soapbox. And this is something you're going to hear more from me this season, because I don't know what it is about constantly reducing these women to muses of men. Right. You see this all the time. Like Lee Miller, as I'm sure you're well aware, April, a quote unquote, muse of man Ray, but just such an incredible woman in her own right. And Marian Morehouse, who you can learn.
- [24:30]
April Callahan
About in our upcoming newsletter.
- [24:32]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, that's true, because there is a film out about her. You also interviewed her. Was it her niece who runs her archive?
- [24:39]
April Callahan
Her granddaughter.
- [24:40]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah.
- [24:40]
April Callahan
And Biba Hussein.
- [24:41]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah. And just so much more than a muse, so much more than a model. Marian Morehouse is just an incredible woman in her own right, and she's arguably the first Vogue supermodel, which I think is really important, something that they don't really underscore in this article enough, in my opinion. But the fact that they're paying homage to her really speaks to that. But essentially, she was a Ziegfeld Folly showgirl, and then she turned a Vogue supermodel photographed by Steichend, who said she was the greatest fashion model I ever shot. And as fashion historians, we know a lot about Edward Steichend. He's very familiar to us in this narrative of fashion history, especially as the quote, unquote, father of modern fashion photography. But there would be no iconic Vogue Steichen imagery without Marian, because she is in almost all of his iconic images from the twenties. Interesting. Yeah. And numerous scholars of this period agree that Marian's work with Steichen and Vogue effectively laid the blueprint for what we would now identify as a supermodel today. And that includes Harold Cota, who wrote about her in the exhibition catalog for the CI exhibit, which I Wish I'd seen. I don't know if you saw the model is muse.
- [25:50]
April Callahan
I did. I did.
- [25:51]
Cassidy Zachary
Embodying fashion. Yeah. So that's a really incredible, you know, case in point. An exhibition entirely dedicated to models. Yeah. And he wrote about. Yeah, he wrote about how central Morehouse was to creating Steichen's modern fashion images as a modern woman herself, and that she really was an incredibly modern woman. And in her sensational early sittings for Vogue, Morehouse heralded the triumph of the cool, sleek, modernist style that would prove enormously influential upon American photography, fashion, graphic design, and female archetypes alike. And she worked with Cecil Beaton, she worked with Vogue's Baron, George Hoenigen Hyuna, and she appeared frequently in Vogue and Vanity Fair. And also concluding with this. Here we've talked about love stories today. Did you know she was the essentially life partner of EE Cummings?
- [26:44]
April Callahan
Oh, I did not know that. Yeah. Interesting.
- [26:47]
Cassidy Zachary
And they had quite the story to love affair with all the trials and tribulations you might expect from the artistic circles of the mid 20th century. But yeah, so Marianne Morehouse, everybody. So much more than a model.
- [27:00]
April Callahan
And also, I'm just gonna loop this all back together really quickly here and pull it also into the present, which is why we do these. So Edward Steichen's very first fashion shoot that he ever did was actually in the nineteen teens, a whole decade before he started working for Vogue. And that was for Paul Paret you just mentioned. And also sneak peek, friends, there is a major retrospective of Paul Paris work that is going to open this summer at the Musee des Arts Decorative in Paris, where we will be visiting it on our fashion history tour in July, which we still have a few slots open for.
- [27:39]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, and we'll talk more about that tour at the end. But we literally framed our entire tour this summer around this exhibition. It would have been earlier in the summer, but we are both huge Pare fans and these retrospectives come are. Do not they come maybe once in a lifetime, possibly twice. So super excited for that. And what are you concluding today's fashion history now with, April?
- [28:03]
April Callahan
Oh, this is quite recent fashion history news, and I'm sure that many of our listeners have probably already seen this really incredible footage of the Enrilage Runway show that was at Paris Fashion Week in early March. The show was held in the American Cathedral in Paris, and it was described by the New York Times as metric, mesmerizing and mirthful. Because this collection, if you have seen it, you already know which one I'm talking About was truly captivating and it kept morphing and changing from second to second. Entitled Screen, the collection by Japanese designer Konihiko Morinaga was for his Autumn Winter 202526 collection for his brand Ambar Lodge. And basically, I'm going to quote there own press release here, it says screen imagines a future where black clothes serve as a screen for displaying any color pattern or message or graphic. Garments morph into mediums for diffusing messages, reflecting and transforming a stream of visuals and information. The screen age equivalent of the humble sandwich board man of the early 20th century or slogan T shirts, these screen garments change instantaneously according to the wearer's mood. Drawing from a galaxy of downloadable designs rendered in vivid digital RGB colors unreproducible in cmyk. Patterns of light emerge and fade, giving rise to new and continuous visual expressions. The clothing, like life itself, never stops evolving. There is no final form. Whoa. Oh, thank you, guys. And we will of course put a link in our show notes so you can actually view the fashion show itself. It's only like 13 minutes or so. And I do have to say that Thomas Bengalter, formerly of Daft Punk, did the original composition.
- [29:56]
Cassidy Zachary
Oh, no.
- [29:57]
April Callahan
For the fashion show, which is really interesting. But the show is beautiful. It's haunting. It also maybe smacks of this dystopian fashion future where the digital might be replacing the artisanal. But did you watch this show, Cas, what did you. What were your thoughts?
- [30:15]
Cassidy Zachary
I have not watched it. I saw all of the reels that popped up on Instagram, though. So, yeah, it's totally visually stunning and captivating. Daft Punk definitely does come to mind. So that's a perfect pairing.
- [30:26]
April Callahan
Yeah, so does Tron. Oh, that's really interesting that you said that because. Okay, so after I saw the show last month and I saw it on Instagram and then I actually sat down and watched the whole thing, I wanted to learn a little bit more about the tech behind it. And the New York Times article that I referenced earlier tells us how it was done. It says, quote, these clothes were produced from yarns laced all over with teensy LED quote unquote balls. Picture a Times Square billboard packaged into a swaying sack dress. Each design had a battery pack and a sensor allowing the display to be manipulated backstage. The result is like Tron crossed with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. And within the fashion show itself, and they said that you can put words or messages or you can program it however you want, but within the Fashion show itself. Most of these motifs were these sort of geometric morphing permutations in and out of each other. Some of them reference the stained glass that was in the cathedral where it was held. But obviously the tech can be programmed to display whatever it is that the designer or potential wearer in the future really wanted. Okay, but before I buy, before we sign off for the day, I do. I didn't. I personally did not know a ton about this brand, Enrolage. I had heard of them before, so of course I dove into that rabbit hole a little bit more. But it was established in 2003 by designer Kunihiko Morinaga, who was born in Tokyo in 1980. And according to the Federation de la Haute Couture de la Mode's official entry for Enrolage, the title, the brand's title is a combination of the words real, unreal and age. And this Japanese based brand has officially been showing at Paris Fashion Week as a ready to wear category since 2014. And also Morinaga's, this latest screen collection combines a couple different long established themes within his work. Both patchwork and he really started experimenting with tech as early as 2011. If you want to learn more about Morinaga and Enrolagement, I also discovered a really nice essay on the brand's history and all of these distinct periods of Morinaga's work, which I knew next to nothing about before on Google Arts and Culture Cast. And this whole visual essay was produced by the Japanese Fashion and Lifestyle foundation has tons of images, little blurbs, text write ups, videos. So that is another of my recs this week is to check out Enver Lodge and Maureen Aga's work. And of course we will put a link on our show notes to that very free, very accessible visual essay on Google Arts and Culture.
- [33:13]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah, and I actually wrote about Google Arts and Culture in the newsletter because it is such a incredible resource and there's so many visual stories of the coming essays written by scholars and other industry professionals and experts and it just is a rabbit hole. So for fashion history and contemporary fashion alike. So definitely check it out dress listeners. We've reached the end of what we're sharing with you, but we should probably share some dressed fashion history news of our own April, such as the fact that we've revamped our website, dressed history.com. if you're heading over there to sign up for our newsletter, you can check it out and I will give you the full credit.
- [33:51]
April Callahan
You revamped our website?
- [33:54]
Cassidy Zachary
I gave it a little bit of a facelift or a refresh. And then I also wanted to share with you or remind you that I am teaching a class in May. Every Sunday in May, I will be bringing you what women wore to the revolution, which I of course have already taught over, I think a year ago now. But there was such demand for that class and those of you who have not taken it or want to take it again, we had so much fun. Essentially, we're exploring the evolution and revolution of women's fashion from the 1850s to the 1920s, which witnessed dramatic transformation in both women's lives and the clothes they wore. We have so much fun. We meet so many incredible women. Along the way. We learn about their constant battle to wear pants that really underscores their fight for other rights like the right to vote, the right for equality. And we talk about all of those things. And then it's always followed by a very lively conversation and Q A. And I hope you will head to dresshistory.com and join me.
- [34:53]
April Callahan
Yes, you can also head over to dresshistory.com on our tours page and check out our upcoming fashion history tour of Paris, which is seven days long, incredibly immersive, as I already referenced. We will be going to see the Poiret retrospective in addition to many of the other incredible shows that are up in Paris this summer, including a Charles Frederick Wirth retrospective at the Petit Palais. And we will be going to the Louvre Couture exhibition, which is the very first fashion exhibition in the louvre's more than 230 year history. So much going on in Paris. Our first incarnation of that tour is closed, it is sold out. And Cassidy and I are going to be running that one. But the second incarnation is going to be July 20th through the 27th. We do have a few spots left still, and that incarnation of our trip is going to be run by myself and our favorite Parisian based collaborator, Rebecca Devaney of Textile Tours of Paris. Come hang out with us in Paris this summer, I guess is what I'm saying.
- [35:54]
Cassidy Zachary
Yes, please. Can't wait to see you all there. Okay, dress listeners, I think that does it. Until next week. Dress listeners, may you consider how fashion history resides now in your closet. Next time you get dressed.
- [36:08]
April Callahan
Please head over to Dressed Underscore podcast on Instagram, Instagram or podcast without the Underscore on Facebook to check out the visual content associated with each week's episodes.
- [36:20]
Cassidy Zachary
Remember, we love hearing from you dress listeners, so if you'd like to write to us, you can do so at. Hello dresshistory.com dressedhistory.com is also our website where you can sign up for our monthly newsletter, our in person tours and online fashion history courses. And there you can also check out whatever else we have up our finely tag tailored sleeves.
- [36:38]
April Callahan
We get so many questions from you all about our recommendations for fashion history books, so if you're interested you can always find a link in our show notes to our bookshop.org bookshelf so that address is bookshop.org shop forward/dressed and there you will find over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles.
- [37:00]
Cassidy Zachary
Do you love Dressed but want to skip the ads? We are are so excited to now be a part of the Airwave Network and their premium ad free history subscription Airwave History plus and this is available on Apple Podcasts and the subscription brings you our podcast as well as 27 other popular history podcasts ad free for 5.99 per month. More information is available at the link in our bio.
- [37:24]
April Callahan
Thank you as always for tuning in and more dressed coming your way soon. The History of Fashion is a production of Dressed Media.
- [37:37]
Dan Souza
Hey everyone, it's Dan Souza from America's Test Kitchen. I'm super excited to let you all know that we're launching a new video podcast that takes you behind the scenes into the messy, imperfect, but riveting day to day life right here in our Test kitchen. Not only do I get to talk to my colleagues about the latest taste.
- [37:52]
Cassidy Zachary
Test they attended, I just came from a tasting of salted caramel apple pie bars and then roasted garlic. So I apologize.
- [37:59]
Dan Souza
Or about a recipe they're developing.
- [38:01]
Cassidy Zachary
The thing about this recipe is it's a secret. The restaurateur refuses to tell people what her secret ingredients are.
- [38:07]
Dan Souza
We also chat with amazing guests from the culinary world and beyond. The lamest joke I've ever said, I said to Marie Manberg.
- [38:14]
April Callahan
It's definitely sweet.
- [38:16]
Dan Souza
Thanks Anne. Make sure to subscribe to in the Test Kitchen so you don't miss an episode. You can watch in the Test Kitchen on YouTube and Spotify and listen to it wherever you get your podcasts. Can't wait to see you in the Test Kitchen.