ANALYSIS OF A COLLECTION : CHRISTIAN LACROIX SPRING 1988 COUTURE
MORE IS NEVER ENOUGH
THE ASK
identify one collection from a specific designer and analyze the historical context, how the designer reflected the zeitgeist of the time, and identify the designer’s fashion philosophy and influences.
the process
identifying designer + collection
conducting research on designer + influences
My first step was conducting thorough research on Christian Lacroix. I felt that by understanding him, his life, and his design influences, I would be able to understand the collection better. Because this collection was so old, there were very few digital resources, meaning that I had to loan library books about him and locate newspaper archives to find this research.
The freedom in this project to be able to choose which collection we wanted to research felt overwhelming, so I decided to pick a collection from a ‘vintage’ designer that I was less familiar with. This is what led me to choosing Christian Lacroix. Once I had decided on this designer, I looked for a collection that seemed the most ‘confusing’ at first glance, versus one with a clear influence and theme. These aspects led to my choosing of his Spring 1998 couture collection.
the outcome
This was one of my largest research projects that I produced, and was a great experience for me to test my research abilities. I found that I really enjoyed the research process, as well as understanding the influences that designers reference in their work.